Outdoor Living Room

The new owners of this Mayfair home loved their new house, but had no idea how to handle the awkward, steeply sloped and cramped backyard they had inherited. The goal was to create an outdoor sanctuary for the family to enjoy for their personal use and entertaining. Instead of fighting with the slope, we used it to create interest and break up the space for different functional purposes.

The main level was for outdoor grilling and eating and the lower area was for relaxing and socializing. To tie in the existing architecture and to keep the project more affordable, we used red brick pavers set in sand. But to give the project a more upscale feel, we edged the patio in mortared red flagstone. The pillars are stuccoed in a neutral color to give a more contemporary feel and capped in red flagstone to tie in with the patio. The gas fire pit turns on with a simple switch. On the bottom level is grass to soften all of the hardscapes. We added trees along the perimeter of the yard to give privacy to this client’s new outdoor living room.