Pergola-Covered Outdoor Room Sells a House

Photos by Adam Taylor Photos except where noted

Patio at a Glance
Who uses it: A husband and wife who both work from home
Location: Westchester neighborhood of Los Angeles
Size: 325 square feet (30 square meters); 25 by 13 feet
Designers: Megan Blu and Alison White of Blu and White (interior design and development), Charles A. Samson (architecture) and Madison Modern Home (staging)

When selling a house, a well-designed patio can be the space that seals the deal. This stunning patio by the design-developing team Megan Blu and Alison White of Blu and White was the space that sold a couple on this modern Spanish Revival project in Los Angeles. The buyers are a couple whose kids are away at college and who both work from home. “They saw the patio and spent a lot of time sitting on the sofa and envisioning sitting out here with their laptops or watching games on a TV over the mantel,” White says. “The patio was the feature that sold them on the house.”

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Photo by Christopher Lee Foto

When helping the team site and design the house, architect Charles Samson proposed tucking the patio off to the side. “We both thought this was a great idea because it made the most of the lot — it didn’t take space away from the backyard,” White says.

The siting is important for several reasons. Backyard space is limited in L.A., and they wanted to leave room for a pool should their buyers want one. Placing it in a corner between two exterior walls and a fence also gave it an enclosed room-like feeling.

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And lastly, the placement is part of an easy circular indoor-outdoor flow between the patio, the dining room and the great room. Three large sets of doors open up the house to this space. The dining room has a wet bar that’s easily accessed from the patio. And the great room’s fireplace is two-sided so people on the patio can enjoy the warm glow of the fire. The path of pavers leads to a gate to the front yard and also wraps the back corner to meet the large opening between the great room and the backyard.

Another clever move was adding a Douglas fir pergola overhead. Not only did it enhance the room-like feeling, provide shade and give the designers a place to hang a chandelier, it also provided some extra square footage within the building codes’ limited allowance for square footage.

“In L.A. if you cover a patio completely it counts toward the home’s total square footage, which is limited. This means you have to sacrifice another indoor space, like a bedroom,” White says. With the open pergola, they attained a porch-like covered feeling without having to sacrifice another room.

Browse cement tile in the Houzz Shop

Photo by Christopher Lee Foto

Blu describes the home’s style as Modern Spanish Revival. “We both really like the look of 1920s Spanish Revival homes in this area that have been updated for modern life. We wanted to attain that style without going too theme-y,” Blu says. She adds that they always use Houzz for inspiration photos.

The most important design element that achieves the style is the floor tile choice. It is a cement tile from Arto in a bluish gray-and-cream palette. “When I visited the Arto factory I was struck by this one. It felt Spanish and a little Moroccan,” Blu says. “It was a splurge, but it is a showstopper. And it was a really great thing to be able to use a tile that was made locally here in L.A.”

Tile: Arabesque in Magnolia blend, Arto

See the Houzz ideabook Blu and White created for inspiration on this project