The conversation began when the owners of this 1930’s colonial home approached us about options for their simple, suburban rear yard. Their yard was small and located on a busy corner. Our clients wished to create a quiet, comfortable, outdoor space where they could not only entertain and escape to with their friends on weekends but also enjoy cozy family dinners as well.
From the onset there were a host of factors which effected our design approach. First, a number of large oak trees were located directly in the middle of the yard (some three and a half feet in diameter) and structurally top heavy. Because the trees were quite mature, we brought our arborist in to assess their health before incorporating them into our design. As it turns out two of the three trees had large, hollow sections high in their trunks and the third (due to its proximity to the other larger trees) had grown out over the roof of the house making it a safety concern for the owners.
This property was one of the lowest (topographically) in the area and this created a condition where storm runoff from properties uphill would collect on the property. One of the top priorities for the design team was to design a drainage system that would move water off the property as efficiently as possible during and after a rainstorm.
Lastly, the property was located at a busy corner, and past attempts to screen the street visually by using evergreens and miscellaneous tall shrubs had produced results that were less than stellar. The fact that the rear yard was small meant we needed to take advantage of every square foot available. We removed old, overgrown plantings that were no longer suitable, and created a new planting plan that used the space more efficiently and would compliment the new elements being introduced into the yard.
Removing the 3 large trees was a relatively simple process and once completed, the roots were removed and the surrounding ground was stabilized. We installed a new drainage system which was designed to accommodate the high volume of runoff entering the property during a heavy rainstorm.
The Cross River design team created a plan that separated the rear yard into separate individual outdoor “rooms” – each serving a different function. The area closest to the house (and therefore the kitchen) served as a cooking and dining space for smaller parties and included a small table with access to the grill counter. Adjacent to the grill is a new sink, cabinets, drawers, and bar. The second room served as a space for entertaining on a larger scale. This space shared access to the grill counter and consists of a bluestone terrace with a long dining table for entertaining large groups. Just beyond lies another more intimate space where an outdoor sofa and lounge chairs encircle a contemporary fire pit. This space is bordered on all sides by fragrant flowers and lush vegetation.
These individual rooms not only make the outdoor space dramatically more interesting, but their configuration creates the illusion that the yard is bigger than it really is. The plantings adorning each outdoor room double as a screening element from the busy street beyond and their proportion and placement make them appear as if they have been there all along.
