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TouchStone Accent Lighting, Inc.
Patio - mid-sized traditional backyard stone patio idea in Minneapolis with no cover
Lola Interiors
Interior Design: Lola Interiors, Photo: East Coast Virtual Tours
Inspiration for a large transitional back porch remodel in Jacksonville with decking and a roof extension
Inspiration for a large transitional back porch remodel in Jacksonville with decking and a roof extension
Alan Smith Pool Plastering & Construction
Large island style backyard concrete paver and custom-shaped water slide photo in Orange County
Find the right local pro for your project
Old Naples Builders Inc.
Example of a large beach style backyard tile and rectangular pool design in Miami
NC Designs
Dry creek bed with ledger stone, pebbles, trailing sedums and ornamental grasses.
Inspiration for a mid-sized mediterranean drought-tolerant and partial sun backyard gravel garden path in San Luis Obispo for spring.
Inspiration for a mid-sized mediterranean drought-tolerant and partial sun backyard gravel garden path in San Luis Obispo for spring.
Artemis Landscape Architects, Inc.
Inspiration for a large traditional full sun front yard gravel landscaping in New York for spring.
Everett Garden Designs
©Melissa Clark Photography. All rights reserved.
Inspiration for a large transitional backyard stone and rectangular lap pool remodel in DC Metro
Inspiration for a large transitional backyard stone and rectangular lap pool remodel in DC Metro
Sponsored
Great Falls, VA
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Pristine Acres
Leading Northern Virginia Custom Outdoor Specialist- 10x Best of Houzz
BrickWood Ovens
A beautiful Wood Fired Oven with BBQ Grill in an Outdoor Kitchen! This pizza oven is clad with natural stone veneer and partnered with a wood BBQ.. also called an Argentinian grill. Amazing job! To see more pictures of this oven (and many more ovens), please visit – BrickWoodOvens.com
risa boyer architecture
Inspiration for a large mid-century modern side yard concrete patio remodel in Portland with a fire pit and a roof extension
CLC Landscape Design
Inspiration for a mid-sized traditional full sun and rock hillside stone formal garden in New York for summer.
AB Design Elements, LLC
Inspiration for a large transitional backyard stone patio remodel in Phoenix with a pergola
Exterior Worlds Landscaping & Design
We were contacted by the owner of a Houston, Texas home who asked us to design a series of gardens and landscaping features that would compliment and expand the Mediterranean theme of his house into the surrounding landscape. This house sat on a very large lot of several acres in a secluded Memorial Drive neighborhood located near the 610 Loop. The home featured a symmetrical, linear appearance in spite of its two-story build, and our client wanted a landscape and garden design that would follow these same principles of self-contained regularity and subtle linear motion.
Creating a Mediterranean theme in a Houston, Texas garden and landscape is a bit more complex that it might appear at face value. The southern coast of Europe—particularly in Italy and Greece—is a mountainous area where homes and gardens are built on steep angles and sharp vertical rises. Gardens and fields are often built in terraces that climb the mountains due to the limited planting area and rough, rocky terrain. Limestone is the predominant rock type in Italy and Greece and has become iconic of this part of the world in our collective consciousness. Mediterranean homes and gardens are historically famous for their white stucco walls, olive groves, and carefully sculptured greenery embedded in a rugged limestone backdrop.
The challenge lay in taking an essentially three-dimensional landscaping style and transfering it to a Houston property. As we all know, this part of Texas is very flat, so a hillside garden is out of the question in the literal sense. However, using a combination of symmetrical forms and linear progressions, along with some innovative garden materials, we were able to mimic several aspects of seaside European terrain.
The key to doing this was to establish a combination of circular forms and linear patterns in the multiple garden elements we designed. French and Italian gardens place a heavy emphasis on order and symmetry, and both tend to utilize right angles to establish form. We planted a variety of low level growth around the house and rear swimming pool patio to emphasize its walls and corners. We then added three keynote forms to the landscape to create a Houston equivalent of a Mediterranean garden.
The first of these forms was a knot garden centered on the front door, located just in front of the home’s motorcourt. We planted boxwoods in three circular rows that looked like terraces on a hillside. In the center of the knot garden we planted Loropatalum, punctuated with a lone Crinum lily as the center piece. The rich purple of the Loropatalum draws catches the eye, and the vertical dimension added by the lily draws it upward to the front entrance of the house.
Moving then to one side of the house, we transformed a substantial portion of the yard into a parterre garden that centered on a large glass room that extended from the west wing of the house. This garden was populated by low-growth rose bushes whose amenability to constant trimming makes them an ideal plant material for parterre gardens, and whose colorful blooms a made them stand out from multiple vantage points throughout this Houston neighborhood. The garden borders were made from of boxwood hedges, and the central pathways were made using European limestone gravel that mimics the color of the limestone cliffs of the Aegean and Adriatic Seas. We then completed the design by adding dwarf yaupon, a small shrub that bears a curious resemblance to clouds, all along the borders of the gravel walkways. This helped create the impression that the garden was located on a hilltop near the sea, and that the clouds were rolling across the shoreline.
One of the most appealing attributes of this Houston, Texas property is its superb location. The back of the yard borders a 50-foot ravine carved out of the earth by a major tributary of Buffalo Bayou. This seemed to us a natural destination spot for garden guests to visit after strolling around the west wing of the home to the pool. To encourage them to do so, we planted an alley of crepe myrtles leading from the pool area all the way back to the woods along the ravine. We then built a walkway out of limestone aggregate blocks that started at the parterre garden, ran alongside the house to the pool, then ran straight out through the alley of trees to the scenic overlook of the forest and stream below. For more the 20 years Exterior Worlds has specialized in servicing many of Houston's fine neighborhoods.
Sponsored
Oak Hill, VA
Ed Ball Landscape Architecture
Exquisite Landscape Architecture & Design - “Best of Houzz" Winner
Sterling Brook Custom Homes
An all stone outdoor kitchen with dining area and easy access to pool bath and game room makes for party central with flair.
Large tuscan brick patio photo in Dallas with a pergola
Large tuscan brick patio photo in Dallas with a pergola
Aly Daly Design
Rear yard, Modern/Moroccan residence
Pool - mid-sized mediterranean backyard stone and rectangular pool idea in Los Angeles
Pool - mid-sized mediterranean backyard stone and rectangular pool idea in Los Angeles
GreenHeart, LLC
©Melissa Clark Photography
Mid-sized mountain style backyard stone patio photo in DC Metro with a fire pit and no cover
Mid-sized mountain style backyard stone patio photo in DC Metro with a fire pit and no cover
Vision Interiors
The Holloway blends the recent revival of mid-century aesthetics with the timelessness of a country farmhouse. Each façade features playfully arranged windows tucked under steeply pitched gables. Natural wood lapped siding emphasizes this homes more modern elements, while classic white board & batten covers the core of this house. A rustic stone water table wraps around the base and contours down into the rear view-out terrace.
Inside, a wide hallway connects the foyer to the den and living spaces through smooth case-less openings. Featuring a grey stone fireplace, tall windows, and vaulted wood ceiling, the living room bridges between the kitchen and den. The kitchen picks up some mid-century through the use of flat-faced upper and lower cabinets with chrome pulls. Richly toned wood chairs and table cap off the dining room, which is surrounded by windows on three sides. The grand staircase, to the left, is viewable from the outside through a set of giant casement windows on the upper landing. A spacious master suite is situated off of this upper landing. Featuring separate closets, a tiled bath with tub and shower, this suite has a perfect view out to the rear yard through the bedroom's rear windows. All the way upstairs, and to the right of the staircase, is four separate bedrooms. Downstairs, under the master suite, is a gymnasium. This gymnasium is connected to the outdoors through an overhead door and is perfect for athletic activities or storing a boat during cold months. The lower level also features a living room with a view out windows and a private guest suite.
Architect: Visbeen Architects
Photographer: Ashley Avila Photography
Builder: AVB Inc.
Outdoor Design Ideas
Sponsored
Oak Hill, VA
Ed Ball Landscape Architecture
Exquisite Landscape Architecture & Design - “Best of Houzz" Winner
Homefront Farmers
Nothing equals the transparency of having your fruits and vegetables grown in your own yard. While the term “organic” means many different things to many different growers, Homefront Farmers follows a model of practices that promote the health and ecological biodiversity of your garden. We never use chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, or other synthetic applications.
We think there’s comfort in knowing where and how your food is grown. Do you?
Randy Angell Designs
Photography by Jimi Smith / "Jimi Smith Photography"
Hot tub - mid-sized modern backyard concrete and rectangular hot tub idea in Dallas
Hot tub - mid-sized modern backyard concrete and rectangular hot tub idea in Dallas
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