When this marketing executive and teacher bought their brownstone, they wanted us to transform the wooded yard into a clean, modern party space. We responded by dividing the garden into three escalating regions. Closest to the house, we created an enclosed BBQ grill, concrete wet bar and cabinets as an extension of their indoor kitchen, paved with bluestone. To step onto an ipe deck brings you to the middle area, a spacious dining and sitting area lined by golden bamboo. Further back is another step: here, a waterfall cascades to the pond below (salvaged from the original, broken-down concrete wall). Planters frame the pond, and the clients added a fire pit for evening entertainment. The original maple and new 20-foot redbud trees fill the planters on each side of the pond—a framework to punctuate the plantings the clients planned to install the following spring. Custom lighting renders the whole yard a dramatic party stage.