The informal seating area in the front yard invites the gardener to rest in vibrant Blu Dot 'Hot Mesh' furniture amidst lush columnar apple trees, ceramic pots, and custom sculptural Corten steel beds hosting vegetables and dwarf blueberry shrubs. A seatwall clad in 'Mt. Moriah' ledge stone contains the space, punctuated by a large 'Windsor' boulder with native Polypodium californicum ferns at its feet. Photo © Jude Parkinson-Morgan.

We planned a thoughtful redesign of this beautiful home while retaining many of the existing features. We wanted this house to feel the immediacy of its environment. So we carried the exterior front entry style into the interiors, too, as a way to bring the beautiful outdoors in. In addition, we added patios to all the bedrooms to make them feel much bigger. Luckily for us, our temperate California climate makes it possible for the patios to be used consistently throughout the year. The original kitchen design did not have exposed beams, but we decided to replicate the motif of the 30" living room beams in the kitchen as well, making it one of our favorite details of the house. To make the kitchen more functional, we added a second island allowing us to separate kitchen tasks. The sink island works as a food prep area, and the bar island is for mail, crafts, and quick snacks. We designed the primary bedroom as a relaxation sanctuary – something we highly recommend to all parents. It features some of our favorite things: a cognac leather reading chair next to a fireplace, Scottish plaid fabrics, a vegetable dye rug, art from our favorite cities, and goofy portraits of the kids. --- Project designed by Courtney Thomas Design in La Cañada. Serving Pasadena, Glendale, Monrovia, San Marino, Sierra Madre, South Pasadena, and Altadena. For more about Courtney Thomas Design, see here: https://www.courtneythomasdesign.com/ To learn more about this project, see here: https://www.courtneythomasdesign.com/portfolio/functional-ranch-house-design/

Large traditional backyard patio in Richmond with concrete pavers and a pergola.

Loggia
Large modern backyard patio in Miami with an outdoor kitchen, stamped concrete and a roof extension.

Gable style patio cover that is free standing with a full outdoor kitchen, wood burning fireplace, and hot tub. We added in some outdoor heaters from Infratech and a TV to tie it all together. This patio cover has larger than average beams and rafters and it really gives it a beefy look. It's on a stamped concrete patio and the whole project turned out beautifully!

The patio is an outdoor room centered on a raised, gas fire pit and shaded by a row of Swedish Aspens the photographer is peeking through. The porch's cedar siding will weather to match the fence/arbor built 5 years prior. Peter J Sieger Architectural Photography

Photo of a large contemporary backyard patio in Other with an outdoor kitchen, tile and an awning.

Photo of a mid-sized contemporary backyard patio in New York with an outdoor kitchen, natural stone pavers and a pergola.

Several beautiful features make this jacuzzi spa and swimming pool inviting for family and guests. The spa cantilevers over the pool . There is a four foot infinity edge water feature pouring into the pool. A lazy river water feature made out of moss boulders also falls over the pool's edge adding a pleasant, natural running water sound to the surroundings. The pool deck is exposed aggregate. Seat bench walls and the exterior of the hot tub made of moss rock veneer and capped with flagstone. The coping was custom fabricated on site out of flagstone. Retaining walls were installed to border the softscape pictured. We also installed an outdoor kitchen and pergola next to the home.

Traditional Style Fire Feature - the Prescott Fire Pit - using Techo-Bloc's Prescott wall & Piedimonte cap.
Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary backyard patio in Other with a fire feature, natural stone pavers and no cover.

Denice Lachapelle
Design ideas for a mid-sized contemporary backyard patio in Miami with an outdoor kitchen, natural stone pavers and a gazebo/cabana.

Photography by Joe Dodd
Design ideas for a large contemporary backyard patio in San Francisco with an outdoor kitchen and concrete pavers.

Custom granite seat walls and firepit with Pennsylvania bluestone cap. Random pattern square cut PA bluestone patio surface. Red Laceleaf Japanese Maple enframes the view. Alan & Linda Detrick Photography

Designed and built by Land Art Design, Inc.
Photo of a mid-sized contemporary backyard patio in DC Metro with natural stone pavers, a water feature and no cover.

Photo of a large traditional backyard patio in Seattle with a fire feature, natural stone pavers and no cover.

We were contacted by a family named Pesek who lived near Memorial Drive on the West side of Houston. They lived in a stately home built in the late 1950’s. Many years back, they had contracted a local pool company to install an old lagoon-style pool, which they had since grown tired of. When they initially called us, they wanted to know if we could build them an outdoor room at the far end of the swimming pool. We scheduled a free consultation at a time convenient to them, and we drove out to their residence to take a look at the property. After a quick survey of the back yard, rear of the home, and the swimming pool, we determined that building an outdoor room as an addition to their existing landscaping design would not bring them the results they expected. The pool was visibly dated with an early “70’s” look, which not only clashed with the late 50’s style of home architecture, but guaranteed an even greater clash with any modern-style outdoor room we constructed. Luckily for the Peseks, we offered an even better landscaping plan than the one they had hoped for. We proposed the construction of a new outdoor room and an entirely new swimming pool. Both of these new structures would be built around the classical geometry of proportional right angles. This would allow a very modern design to compliment an older home, because basic geometric patterns are universal in many architectural designs used throughout history. In this case, both the swimming pool and the outdoor rooms were designed as interrelated quadrilateral forms with proportional right angles that created the illusion of lengthened distance and a sense of Classical elegance. This proved a perfect complement to a house that had originally been built as a symbolic emblem of a simpler, more rugged and absolute era. Though reminiscent of classical design and complimentary to the conservative design of the home, the interior of the outdoor room was ultra-modern in its array of comfort and convenience. The Peseks felt this would be a great place to hold birthday parties for their child. With this new outdoor room, the Peseks could take the party outside at any time of day or night, and at any time of year. We also built the structure to be fully functional as an outdoor kitchen as well as an outdoor entertainment area. There was a smoker, a refrigerator, an ice maker, and a water heater—all intended to eliminate any need to return to the house once the party began. Seating and entertainment systems were also added to provide state of the art fun for adults and children alike. We installed a flat-screen plasma TV, and we wired it for cable. The swimming pool was built between the outdoor room and the rear entrance to the house. We got rid of the old lagoon-pool design which geometrically clashed with the right angles of the house and outdoor room. We then had a completely new pool built, in the shape of a rectangle, with a rather innovative coping design. We showcased the pool with a coping that rose perpendicular to the ground out of the stone patio surface. This reinforced our blend of contemporary look with classical right angles. We saved the client an enormous amount of money on travertine by setting the coping so that it does not overhang with the tile. Because the ground between the house and the outdoor room gradually dropped in grade, we used the natural slope of the ground to create another perpendicular right angle at the end of the pool. Here, we installed a waterfall which spilled over into a heated spa. Although the spa was fed from within itself, it was built to look as though water was coming from within the pool. The ultimate result of all of this is a new sense of visual “ebb and flow,” so to speak. When Mr. Pesek sits in his couch facing his house, the earth appears to rise up first into an illuminated pool which leads the way up the steps to his home. When he sits in his spa facing the other direction, the earth rises up like a doorway to his outdoor room, where he can comfortably relax in the water while he watches TV. For more the 20 years Exterior Worlds has specialized in servicing many of Houston's fine neighborhoods.

View of courtyard from upper level
Photo of a large modern courtyard patio in Dallas with natural stone pavers and no cover.

Terrasse extérieure aux inspirations méditerranéennes, dotée d'une cuisine extérieure, sous une pergola bois permettant d'ombrager le coin repas.
Large mediterranean backyard patio in Nice with an outdoor kitchen, concrete slab and a pergola.

Mid-sized traditional patio in Richmond with an outdoor kitchen and concrete slab.