Moving back to the states from suburban London, the owners of this newly renovated house wanted the outdoor space to be as freshly designed as their home, with a sense of privacy for their family to enjoy the spending time together outside. Christine Krause Design Studio set to work opening up the backyard and reviving the shaded, patchy grass by clearing out the overgrown trees and scruffy pines, as well as the outdated planting scheme. Freeing up the area gave room for a new patio crafted from custom rectangular pieces of thermal bluestone set into pea gravel for a modern geometric pattern. The new upper patio features an L-shaped seating wall outdoor dining and entertaining. The seating overlooks the reflective blue of a water rill, recirculating parallel to two staggered rows of planted lavender that mirror the design of the bluestone on gravel. A new pathway leads the children out the yard to play, rounding by the preserved and pruned dogwoods. The contemporary gardens now take inspiration from the owner's’ love of English planting, with boxwood and viburnum, grasses, and perennial garden with a palette of purples, whites and silver grays that they can play with and add on to as they please. This family home now has the coveted English touch in the garden paired with a timeless patio they’ll enjoy for seasons to come.