What do you do when you want a sanctuary space in your small backyard, but your neighbors’ towering two-stories are looming down from all three sides?
Call a landscape architect, for starters. These Willow Glen homeowners did just that and, with the design of Teri Ravel Kane, came up with not only a solution, but a little solace.
“I always start with what’s wrong with the space,” said Kane, a San Jose landscape architect.
And there was plenty. Along with the lack of privacy from the neighbors, the driveway leading to the detached garage took up almost half the backyard, and the summer sun baked the space.
Since the homeowner loved Asian design from her business travels abroad, Kane’s suggestion of bamboo screening was an easy sell. At $99 a linear foot from Bamboo Giant in Aptos (installed with barriers to prevent its spread), they planted the bamboo along the back and side to get it growing before they even finalized the design for the rest of the yard.
And the homeowner wanted it all: an outdoor kitchen and eating area, a fireplace and sitting area, and a pool. Big order in a small space? Not for Kane, who looks at it this way: “If you had an indoor family room the size of that yard, it would be cavernous. It’s like a great room.”
The yard was basically a blank slate. The house was brand new, and the backyard was little more than a small patio and a lawn stretching to the back fence. The one tree in the yard was kept and designed around _ a simple kumquat.
The back of the lot, along the fence, was the natural spot for the small plunge pool, but with a raised ledge and a spillway, “it gives you the feeling of a reflecting pond.”
Working toward the house from there, Kane designed a fireplace with sitting area, then separate dining area, then outdoor kitchen closest to the back door that leads to the kitchen.
To provide both shade and privacy, Kane designed a huge trellis that steps higher over each separate space until it reaches the house.
The driveway was stained to minimize its stark impact. Sections were removed and a more flowing edge was poured. Outside the kitchen window, birch trees and tall grasses were planted that provided both a transition from the house and entertaining space to the driveway, but also made the view appear like “you’re looking through a little forest,” Kane said.
To embrace this “indoor-outdoor” feel of a great room, Kane designed a patterned walkway from the driveway to the back door that looks like an entry hall rug. San Jose landscape contractor Laura Livingstone built the project.
The homeowner, who often travels the world, is thrilled with the results. “When I go on holiday,” she said, “unless it can be better than this, I’m not interested.”
Kane said the homeowner was the perfect client because she had a vision of what she wanted to accomplish.
“That’s the ideal client,” Kane said. “You’re there to help them discover it.”
Here’s the complete slideshow:
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