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A dark backyard was given a new life with dramatic additions of built in planting beds, custom cut salvaged pavers, green screen trellis and a ton of charm. The reclaimed barn doors add a focal point to the east wall while the custom built two-tier planting system allows vines to fill this garden which spans two floors of the client's home.

Tom Crane

This concealed library garden courtyard offers total privacy after the installation a 5-foot corbelled brick garden wall and 2 ¼-inch bluestone coping. The patio features geometric bluestone and is planted with scented fragrant shrubs and collections of containers and flowers. The brick-walled fountain provides the calming sound of gently splashing water.

Emily Andrews

photo credit: TJ Sugnet, Soonyay Creative

Stone "Dry Creek" with retaing walls & built in bench Jane Luce

The house and its guest house are a composition of iconic shed volumes sited between Highway 1 to the East and the end of a cul-de-sac to the West. The Eastern façade lends a sense of privacy and protection from the highway, with a smaller entrance, high windows, and thickened wall. The exposed framing of the thickened wall creates a floor to ceiling feature for books in the living room. The Western façade, with large glass barn doors and generous windows, opens the house to the garden, The Sea Ranch, and the ocean beyond. Connecting the two façades, an enclosed central porch serves as a dual entrance and favorite gathering space. With its pizza oven and easy indoor/outdoor connections, the porch becomes an outdoor kitchen, an extension of the main living space, and the heart of the house.

For this house overlooking a salt water pond, my clients wanted a cozy little cottage, but one with an open floor plan, large public rooms, a sizable eat-in kitchen, four bedrooms, three and a half baths, and a den. To create this big house in a small package, we drew upon the Cape Cod tradition with a series of volumes stepping back along the edge of the coastal bank. From the street the house appears as a classic half Cape, but what looks like the main house is only the master suite. The two “additions” that appear behind it contain most of the house. The main entry is from the small farmer’s porch into a surprisingly spacious vaulted stair hall lit by a doghouse dormer and three small windows running up along the stair. The living room, dining room and kitchen are all open to each other, but defined by columns, ceiling beams and the substantial kitchen island. Large windows and glass doors at the back of the house provide views of the water. Upstairs are three more bedrooms including a second master suite with its own fireplace. The extensive millwork, trim, interior doors, paneling, ceiling treatments, stairs, railings and cabinets were all built on site. The construction of the kitchen was the subject of an article in Fine Homebuilding magazine.