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Chickens, Chess and Swimming Star in a Silicon Valley Yard

Some fowl play is afoot in these outdoor rooms, but the family members and their many guests have a pretty good time too

Hoi Ning Wong July 10, 2014

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When Michelle Pettigrew and Jerry Kaplan purchased their Georgian colonial home in Hillsborough, California, on an acre of land, they wanted to create a place that was welcoming for family and friends. Part of that meant making over the yard, which wasn’t being utilized well.

With landscape architect Michael Callan , they transformed the home’s outdoor areas into a series of rooms that encourage entertaining and play. The design, which included an outdoor swimming pool, a play structure, an oversize chess set, a ball court and a trampoline, was created with the couple’s four young daughters in mind.

As the girls slowly outgrew some of these spaces, Pettigrew started redefining them to reflect the changing needs of her family — one outdoor room at a time.

Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: Michelle Pettigrew; Jerry Kaplan; their daughters, ages 21, 20, 19 and 15; dogs Cookie and Bailey; and 5 chickens
Location: Hillsborough, California
Size: 1 acre; guesthouse: 2,500 square feet (232 square meters), 2 bedrooms, 1½ bathrooms
Year built: 1904

Before Photo

The original yard had disparate pieces of furniture and lacked cohesiveness.

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AFTER: The side terrace is accessible from the formal living room. Pettigrew added a pergola to provide shade and to better define the outdoor living room.

Pettigrew believed it was important to maintain as much of the original character of the home as possible. Here the original Connecticut bluestone was preserved.

Outdoor furniture: Cape Cod, Restoration Hardware

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Beyond the side terrace is a built-in oversize chess set made by Kettler. The game is a favorite with guests, especially during parties. The family has hosted as many as 300 people on their property.

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When the couple’s daughters outgrew their play structure (adjacent to the chess set), Pettigrew turned the space into a farmer’s-market-inspired edible garden enclosed by a white fence. The produce growing here includes tomatoes, potatoes, squash, artichokes, peppers and a plethora of berry varieties.

A dining table at the center of the garden encourages farm-to-table-style meals.

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In 2013 Pettigrew added five chickens to the family: Inez, Friendly, Big Red, Struggles and Eden.

At first she purchased an off-the-shelf chicken coop that was rated for six to eight chickens. However, once she brought home her five pullets from the Kensington Farmers’ Market in Berkeley, she saw that it was a tight fit.

“They do like to fly around a bit, and they had no room to do that in the small coop. I read somewhere that the most important thing in keeping chickens is to keep them happy, and that has really been true,” she says. “They needed the space to do all their chicken things.”

Wanting to interact with the fowl on a daily basis, she looked to larger chicken coops for inspiration, browsing designs on Houzz and other sites.

The ball court that was added in their original remodel was no longer actively used by her children, so she turned the space into a custom-designed chicken coop. Pettigrew worked with Scott With of With Fencing to build the coop. The 20- by 20-foot structure is made of redwood and is wrapped with 1- by 2-inch wire to help keep out curious raccoons. Pettigrew purchased shutters from a local company and stained them to match the redwood.

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A weather vane perches proudly atop the coop’s double-door entrance, flanked by two tall flower pots with vibrant posies in bloom.

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The original off-the-shelf coop now sits inside the chicken enclosure and serves as a play structure for the birds. Each hen has her own personalized nesting box and plenty of surfaces on which to roam. The canvas sail above provides protection from the sun.

“My husband and I will go out and have a glass of wine in the coop from time to time,” says Pettigrew. “We call it chicken therapy.”

Nesting boxes: Miller Manufacturing Nesting Box Wall Mount in Plastic; name signs: Etsy

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Directly behind the main house is a combination carriage house and guesthouse added in the 1930s. The family converted the garage space into a multifunctional room that can hold a large number of guests.

On the second level, there are two bedrooms, one and a half bathrooms, a kitchen and a living space. All six family members lived in this space during the nine-month renovation of the main house. This is also where the daughters like to spend time with their friends.

Pettigrew recently added the horse head in homage to the building’s original tenants.

Grassy pavers are installed in front of the garage. This planting system looks like a lawn but offers the strength of pavement, thus allowing cars to drive and park there during special occasions.

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Pettigrew recently installed a fire pit behind the home, in what was once a trampoline area for the kids. It has six Adirondack chairs, so there’s enough space for each member of the family. “We use the fire pit as a family and have s’mores. We also have friends over and sit out there at night and have cocktails and appetizers,” she says. Kaplan set up a sound system so the family can enjoy listening to music while they’re there.

The rocks that form the fire pit were repurposed from an old wall that was taken down during the renovation. “The stones are huge,” Pettigrew says. “I had to use a hand truck to drag them over to that area. It was a very labor-intensive operation.”

Adirondack chairs: Wayfair

Before Photo

The area behind the house was once covered in asphalt.

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AFTER: A swimming pool, popular with all members of the family, replaced the asphalt.

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A pergola covered in Cecile Brunner roses sits at the end of the pool, creating yet another outdoor living room for the residents. “We would sit here to watch the kids swim when they were small — it is still a great place to sit,” says Pettigrew.

Most of the furniture in the backyard is teak, but this set is cast aluminum, which makes the pieces easier to move around into different configurations.

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The formal landscaping at the front of the house reflects its Georgian colonial design, including the original column-lined portico.

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A fountain and a pair of Chippendale benches stand in perfect symmetry in front of the home’s portico. The fountain was moved from the back of the house and operates on a timer during the day. “The sound is great, and the bees in our yard love it,” says Pettigrew.

The area beyond the lawn is populated by numerous fruit trees, including apple, plum, pear and a variety of citrus fruits.

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Box hedge plantings reflect the formality at the front of the house. “The boxwoods in each hedge actually make back-to-back ‘K’s for ‘Kaplan,’” notes Pettigrew.

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Although the couple invested heavily in the home’s remodel when they bought the property, Pettigrew (pictured here with a few of her chickens) is not afraid to continue to evolve her home to suit her family’s ever-changing needs.

Tour the main house: My Houzz: A 1904 Georgian Colonial Gets a Personal Stamp