Beach Cottage Vintage 1946
Beach Cottage Vintage 1946
Located only a few short blocks from the famous Law Street beach, this 1946 beach cottage sits on a prominent corner with a lot of friends and close neighbors nearby. The front yard was an unusable and uncontained gentle slope of weeds and bermuda grass. When we envisioned the new landscape and hardscape design, we imagined the homeowners seated on the front porch while chatting with neighbors as their young children played together.
Our clients wanted a new entrance and retaining wall to elevate the yard from the street. Having four young children and a puppy at home, the front yard had to be dog friendly and suitable for kids. The project also came with challenges. The entire site was composed of heavy clay soil that did not drain. Also the invasive roots from 8 existing Queen palm trees stretched from the parking strip to the front porch. This ocean friendly landscape design has a perfect blend of modern sophistication and eco-friendly elements, while maintaining it’s vintage character.
This outdoor renovation included many eco-friendly upgrades including a low water turf replacement groundcover called Kurapia. Once established, Kurapia only requires water once every 30 days. It does not require regular mowing unless a tight and tidy look is preferred. Best of all, it tolerates all soil types, heavy foot traffic and dog urine. We also installed drip irrigation that uses 60% less water than traditional sprinkler systems. Additionally, we incorporated a bio-swale to keep drainage water onsite, as this is safe for the environment and prevents water run-off directly to Law Street Beach.
For security, we installed custom iron gates and hand railing. To shade the living room and outdoor seating area we constructed a Redwood shade pergola over the porch.
We introduced succulents and native Australian low water plants in order to reduce the amount of water that is typically required to keep landscapes thriving in Southern California.
To keep it fun for the little ones, we added a sand and gravel pit, a modern palyhouse, a free standing steel chimanea for roasting marshmallows, and poured a custom sidewalk that can serve as a chalkboard.
Additional Design Elements:
All new concrete walls and poured in place concrete steppers were finished with topcast #3
Custom Redwood shade pergola
Copper gutters and downspouts drain into bio-swale for water retention
Low voltage lighting with smart controls
Drip irrigation with smart controls
All new drainage
New copper water mainline
Eco-Friendly Upgrades
Located only a few short blocks from the famous Law Street beach, this 1946 beach cottage sits on a prominent corner with a lot of friends and close neighbors nearby. The front yard was an unusable and uncontained gentle slope of weeds and bermuda grass. When we envisioned the new landscape and hardscape design, we imagined the homeowners seated on the front porch while chatting with neighbors as their young children played together.
Our clients wanted a new entrance and retaining wall to elevate the yard from the street. Having four young children and a puppy at home, the front yard had to be dog friendly and suitable for kids. The project also came with challenges. The entire site was composed of heavy clay soil that did not drain. Also the invasive roots from 8 existing Queen palm trees stretched from the parking strip to the front porch. This ocean friendly landscape design has a perfect blend of modern sophistication and eco-friendly elements, while maintaining it’s vintage character.
This outdoor renovation included many eco-friendly upgrades including a low water turf replacement groundcover called Kurapia. Once established, Kurapia only requires water once every 30 days. It does not require regular mowing unless a tight and tidy look is preferred. Best of all, it tolerates all soil types, heavy foot traffic and dog urine. We also installed drip irrigation that uses 60% less water than traditional sprinkler systems. Additionally, we incorporated a bio-swale to keep drainage water onsite, as this is safe for the environment and prevents water run-off directly to Law Street Beach.
For security, we installed custom iron gates and hand railing. To shade the living room and outdoor seating area we constructed a Redwood shade pergola over the porch.
We introduced succulents and native Australian low water plants in order to reduce the amount of water that is typically required to keep landscapes thriving in Southern California.
To keep it fun for the little ones, we added a sand and gravel pit, a modern palyhouse, a free standing steel chimanea for roasting marshmallows, and poured a custom sidewalk that can serve as a chalkboard.
Additional Design Elements:
All new concrete walls and poured in place concrete steppers were finished with topcast #3
Custom Redwood shade pergola
Copper gutters and downspouts drain into bio-swale for water retention
Low voltage lighting with smart controls
Drip irrigation with smart controls
All new drainage
New copper water mainline
Eco-Friendly Upgrades
Project Year: 2018
Project Cost: $75,001 - $100,000
Country: United States
