Garage and Backyard Landscape
Mountain View, CA
This charming house and original garage were built in 1924. The newly rebuilt garage included room for one car with a storage loft with siding, trim and features mimicking the house design. The garage has a French door, wood window, skylight, work bench and plenty of storage. The landscaping includes a vegetable garden, potting bench, rain water collection barrels, compost bins, koi pond, hot tub and more.
Front Yard
Los Altos, CA
A scenic landscape was installed in the front yard for the owners to “watch the world go by.” A front yard patio and fireplace with surrounding patio furniture and annuals in bloom creates a welcoming environment for entertaining. The new driveway with stone trim matches the existing stone from the stoop and front porch.
A large sloped lawn, small concrete patio and expanses of ivy were replaced with three levels of garden rooms. The first features a shade trellis, brick patio, koi pond and fountain, and extensive brickwork. Up the first set of steps is a level of espaliered fruit trees. The third level features antique roses. Pathways on the two top levels are made of quartz slate stepping stones inter-planted with woolly thyme. An English country garden of roses, lavenders, and perennials along with an organic vegetable garden and many fruit trees complete the plan.
Low-profile, travertine stone steps and rails, replete with stone urns were added to the front and rear entrances to compliment the home’s Mediterranean style. In the front yard, low boxwood hedges provide a natural boundary to the sidewalk without impeding the view. The striking back yard includes a pebble patio framed with cobblestone, a lawn surrounded by California-native plants and a stone fountain that adds both visual and aural interest.