Steep Urban Backyard: From Unusable Eyesore to Haven for Adults and Kids

This yard was unusable by the resident grownups and unsafe for their kids who wished they had a place to retreat from city hazards. We refurbished the crumbling concrete retaining wall at the bottom. built another wall above that using dry-stacked broken concrete pieces, and a third wall at the top using decorative dry-stacked cement blocks. Between the upper two walls, we carved out a space for a patio, which we paved with Mediterranean style pavers. At the patio's front edge, we built a safety railing of redwood and vertical steel tubes, which gave it a classy look.