Yard of the Week: Designer’s Laboratory of Outdoor Living
A landscape architect works with an architect to redesign his own yard and create a showcase of sustainable ideas
Travis and Aubree Gramberg had a few things in mind when they were looking for a house where they could start and raise their family in Costa Mesa, California. Both wanted to take advantage of the wonderful climate of Southern California with easy indoor-outdoor living. Aubree desired the cozy textures found in a French country cottage, while Travis wanted a property he could use as a living laboratory for his landscape architecture business.
They found a ranch house built in 1960 and agreed it had great potential. It was on a 12,000-square-foot lot where Travis wanted to do several things: build a rain garden that would handle the site’s runoff, reuse byproducts from the site, plant only native California plants and create strong indoor-outdoor connections. They also decided the house needed a major renovation and would benefit from a primary suite addition. Architect Craig O’Connell shepherded the down-to-the-studs home remodel and addition, and worked with Travis to renovate the landscape.
They found a ranch house built in 1960 and agreed it had great potential. It was on a 12,000-square-foot lot where Travis wanted to do several things: build a rain garden that would handle the site’s runoff, reuse byproducts from the site, plant only native California plants and create strong indoor-outdoor connections. They also decided the house needed a major renovation and would benefit from a primary suite addition. Architect Craig O’Connell shepherded the down-to-the-studs home remodel and addition, and worked with Travis to renovate the landscape.
After: Travis cut off a large portion of the driveway in front of the house and replaced the remaining driveway with permeable pavers. And he replaced the concrete along the front of the house with TimberTech decking. O’Connell tidied up the look of the porch, getting rid of the odd angled pieces at the top of the posts. Now the facade has a more streamlined and modern look.
O’Connell was able to work with the home’s existing roofline. “The roof was in great shape,” he says. “Yes, you can throw money at things and change them up. But with construction costs so high, I find it’s often better to work with existing elements like the porch roofline and find creative solutions. I’m really pleased with the way it turned out.” Of course, saving the existing porch from the landfill instead of purchasing new materials was a more sustainable choice as well.
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O’Connell was able to work with the home’s existing roofline. “The roof was in great shape,” he says. “Yes, you can throw money at things and change them up. But with construction costs so high, I find it’s often better to work with existing elements like the porch roofline and find creative solutions. I’m really pleased with the way it turned out.” Of course, saving the existing porch from the landfill instead of purchasing new materials was a more sustainable choice as well.
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Cutting the driveway away from the right side of the house also created a much more balanced and welcoming look from the street. Travis planted California brittlebush (Encelia californica, USDA zones 10 to 11; find your zone) in masses in the front yard. The fence columns are wrapped in Texas limestone, a material used throughout the yard, lending a cohesive feel.
The stone also provides warm contrast to the deep green of the home’s siding, Black Pool by Dunn-Edwards. “Aubree found this color for the house and neighbors comment on how much they like it all the time,” O’Connell says. “Sometimes it’s gray, sometimes it’s green — it changes throughout the day.” The front door is a Dutch door, one of the couple’s must-haves.
Why Fall Is a Good Time to Start Planning Your Landscape Redesign
The stone also provides warm contrast to the deep green of the home’s siding, Black Pool by Dunn-Edwards. “Aubree found this color for the house and neighbors comment on how much they like it all the time,” O’Connell says. “Sometimes it’s gray, sometimes it’s green — it changes throughout the day.” The front door is a Dutch door, one of the couple’s must-haves.
Why Fall Is a Good Time to Start Planning Your Landscape Redesign
Travis and O’Connell collaborated on decisions throughout the process, but this part of the landscape was all Travis. “Basically, I drew up the general site plan and Travis used it to layer his beautiful, artistic site plan,” O’Connell says.
A fan of Lew French, a sculptural artist known for dry-stacking stones and branches, Travis was eager to use the method in his own yard. Dry stacking is a technique in which stones are stacked without visible grout connecting them. He found the rocks seen here around the yard.
“The original homeowners had lived here since 1960, and it was as if they had collected one of everything — lava, granite, field boulders, Mexican pebbles,” Travis says. “Instead of shipping them off, I wanted to find a way to use them on-site. This wall is my version of Lew French’s dry-stacking technique. It’s the largest dry-stacked stone wall I’ve ever built as an artist.”
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A fan of Lew French, a sculptural artist known for dry-stacking stones and branches, Travis was eager to use the method in his own yard. Dry stacking is a technique in which stones are stacked without visible grout connecting them. He found the rocks seen here around the yard.
“The original homeowners had lived here since 1960, and it was as if they had collected one of everything — lava, granite, field boulders, Mexican pebbles,” Travis says. “Instead of shipping them off, I wanted to find a way to use them on-site. This wall is my version of Lew French’s dry-stacking technique. It’s the largest dry-stacked stone wall I’ve ever built as an artist.”
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One of Travis’ biggest priorities was managing runoff water on-site. To do so, he created a rain garden, a sunken planted area that collects and absorbs water back into the soil. Grading, downspouts and drains direct all the runoff on the property to the rain garden. He also has a rain barrel that collects water for irrigation.
The house is on a corner lot. Travis designed a path between the house and the rain garden that cuts across the front of the house and around to the street-facing side yard. The earth beneath the path serves as a dam wall for the rain garden’s trench. All the pavers he used to create the path are byproducts from past projects and include slate and brick.
The rain garden is lined in grasses, and California sycamore (Platanus racemosa, zones 7 to 10) trees provide height and shade. Travis also experiments with different plants in this part of his outdoor laboratory.
Digging the trench for the rain garden meant Travis had extra soil on his hands. He used it partially to build the berm for the path and to slightly elevate some of the mounds of California brittlebush in the front yard. He also cut down some existing trees on the property, such as sweet gum, which weren’t native and dropped pesky spiked seedpods. To reuse the trees on the site, he turned to a technique called hügelkultur. This involved cutting up tree trunks and branches and using them to help build up a berm around the edge of the property.
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The house is on a corner lot. Travis designed a path between the house and the rain garden that cuts across the front of the house and around to the street-facing side yard. The earth beneath the path serves as a dam wall for the rain garden’s trench. All the pavers he used to create the path are byproducts from past projects and include slate and brick.
The rain garden is lined in grasses, and California sycamore (Platanus racemosa, zones 7 to 10) trees provide height and shade. Travis also experiments with different plants in this part of his outdoor laboratory.
Digging the trench for the rain garden meant Travis had extra soil on his hands. He used it partially to build the berm for the path and to slightly elevate some of the mounds of California brittlebush in the front yard. He also cut down some existing trees on the property, such as sweet gum, which weren’t native and dropped pesky spiked seedpods. To reuse the trees on the site, he turned to a technique called hügelkultur. This involved cutting up tree trunks and branches and using them to help build up a berm around the edge of the property.
12 Pros Share the Top Sustainable Features They’re Using
Before: In the backyard, this existing porch roof was very large and the space beneath it was uninviting. “Once again, we decided to find a creative solution to work with it,” O’Connell says.
After: O’Connell wound up removing about 15 feet of the porch roof to create a more open area in front of the primary suite addition, seen at the back of this photo. He covered the ceiling with painted plywood and battens, and Travis clad the porch’s posts and beams in Texas limestone.
The addition gives the backyard a courtyard feel and provides privacy from the street. “Southern Californians have such great weather that they can enjoy what we call ‘lanai living.’ It’s almost like living in Hawaii,” O’Connell says.
The architect connected the addition to the house with a new glass breezeway. The bedroom’s glass doors lead to a raised deck. Travis repeated the TimberTech decking used on the front porch out here. The deck divides the backyard into different levels for a fire pit and a cedar hot tub. The deck steps serve as additional seating when the couple entertain large groups.
Hot tub: Snorkel
The addition gives the backyard a courtyard feel and provides privacy from the street. “Southern Californians have such great weather that they can enjoy what we call ‘lanai living.’ It’s almost like living in Hawaii,” O’Connell says.
The architect connected the addition to the house with a new glass breezeway. The bedroom’s glass doors lead to a raised deck. Travis repeated the TimberTech decking used on the front porch out here. The deck divides the backyard into different levels for a fire pit and a cedar hot tub. The deck steps serve as additional seating when the couple entertain large groups.
Hot tub: Snorkel
The family and its friends get a lot of use out of the backyard. The large covered patio now serves as an outdoor living and dining room, complete with comfortable seating and a TV. The refreshed space has stronger connections to the indoors, including the glass doors off the living room.
For the patio’s surface, Travis used Italian limestone so he could show it to clients. “They can come over and experience what this material can do and how good it feels on bare feet. And they can learn about how when it gets a stain, they can sand it down to remove it,” he says. At the same time, he was practicing something he preaches. “I tell my clients to invest in the spaces that they’ll use the most, and I did that here.”
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For the patio’s surface, Travis used Italian limestone so he could show it to clients. “They can come over and experience what this material can do and how good it feels on bare feet. And they can learn about how when it gets a stain, they can sand it down to remove it,” he says. At the same time, he was practicing something he preaches. “I tell my clients to invest in the spaces that they’ll use the most, and I did that here.”
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The existing detached garage contributes to the yard’s courtyard feel. Travis added an expanse of lawn, one of the project’s few non-native plants, for children and dogs to play on. Along the edge of the property on the left, he’s conducting one of his experiments.
“Everyone uses ficus trees or bamboo to create what we call ‘Hollywood hedges’ around here. This means a privacy wall made of plants,” he says. “I’m using native coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia, zones 9 to 11) as an experiment. This is shocking to some people because they can grow to be so big. But I planted them 6 feet apart and I’ve been keeping them trimmed. So far it’s been really low-maintenance.”
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“Everyone uses ficus trees or bamboo to create what we call ‘Hollywood hedges’ around here. This means a privacy wall made of plants,” he says. “I’m using native coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia, zones 9 to 11) as an experiment. This is shocking to some people because they can grow to be so big. But I planted them 6 feet apart and I’ve been keeping them trimmed. So far it’s been really low-maintenance.”
How to Create Privacy in Your Yard With Plants and Structures
A primary suite addition was part of the home’s remodel. A new glass breezeway connects the primary suite to the rest of the home. This photo shows the view through the breezeway, from the backyard to the side yard. Large sliding glass doors open to both sides. The portion over the doors conceals ductwork for heating and cooling.
“The glass hallway was Craig’s idea,” Travis says. “It came from me wanting easy access to my vegetable garden from the house. He was always willing to see where the project took us, coming up with ideas and providing his expertise. It was the best kind of collaboration.”
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“The glass hallway was Craig’s idea,” Travis says. “It came from me wanting easy access to my vegetable garden from the house. He was always willing to see where the project took us, coming up with ideas and providing his expertise. It was the best kind of collaboration.”
Start Your Landscape Renovation Right With a Master Plan
This side of the addition is on the other street-facing side of the corner lot. The paver path next to the rain garden leads from the front of the house around to this side.
“I know what it’s like to provide people space to hang out near a street, and it’s often not the best spot for that,” Travis says. So he came up with a beautiful design for his vegetable garden. Some of these plants are the other exceptions he made to his 100% native California plants rule.
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“I know what it’s like to provide people space to hang out near a street, and it’s often not the best spot for that,” Travis says. So he came up with a beautiful design for his vegetable garden. Some of these plants are the other exceptions he made to his 100% native California plants rule.
What to Know About Adding or Renovating an Edible Garden
The vegetable bed is raised to make it easier to tend the plants, and the Texas limestone wrapping the bed makes a lovely feature. “It gets great sun here, it’s eye-catching and provides a destination,” Travis says. Between the patio and the street, he planted toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia, zones 7 to 10), also called California holly. It provides privacy and helps define the outdoor room.
The patio around the vegetable bed is urbanite, which is concrete that’s been demolished and reused. Travis was able to reuse a good amount of the concrete he removed from the property here. “The colors in the pavers and the limestone gave us that French country cottage feeling that Aubree wanted,” he says.
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The patio around the vegetable bed is urbanite, which is concrete that’s been demolished and reused. Travis was able to reuse a good amount of the concrete he removed from the property here. “The colors in the pavers and the limestone gave us that French country cottage feeling that Aubree wanted,” he says.
More on Houzz
Read more landscape stories
Browse more landscape photos
Shop for your outdoor spaces
Landscape at a Glance
Who lives here: Travis Gramberg of Koheid Design, his wife, Aubree Gramberg, and their two young children and two dogs
Location: Costa Mesa, California
Lot size: 12,000 square feet (1,115 square meters)
Designers: Craig O’Connell Architecture (architecture) and Koheid Design (landscape architecture)
Before: The property had its charms, but the house and yard were both in need of a major sprucing up.
As Travis interviewed architects, he wasn’t feeling the collaborative vibes he sought until he spoke with Craig O’Connell, a Northern California architect introduced by their mutual business coach. “The architects I interviewed were all saying something like, ‘Well, I’ll do the architecture and then afterward you can do your thing.’ But from my first conversation with Craig, I could tell that we really shared a vision for collaborating and creating a synergy between indoors and out,” Travis says. The project included a down-to-the-studs interior renovation, a reworking of the landscape and the primary suite addition. The main goal was to create stronger indoor-outdoor connections.
The driveway’s concrete was a large, impermeable surface. Travis had big plans for the yard and was excited to use as close to 100% native California plants as he could.
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