After years of tackling interior renovations, I was fortunate to start my first full fledged outdoor design project. And it was a doozy.
The challenge was this: turn an overgrown, weed strewn jungle into a backyard paradise. The yard hadn't been cared for in several years. Approximately 1/2 of the yard consisted of a large sand dune, so in effect there was little usable space. That needed to change. Also present under a second floor deck was a dark, creepy looking stone patio with 3 massive beach stone "steps" leading out of the house. These steps were so large that the patio was unusable - there was no area for a table and chairs or anything else for that matter. We wanted less hills, more grassy yard and a proper patio/lounging area. A saline gunite pool, rock walls, ample patio space and privacy screening were the main features we would be adding. BEFORE.
The budget was moderate but we needed to keep it as low as humanly possible while still getting the results we were looking for. And we wanted to use and reuse as many materials and plants as possible.
First things first, I had to take into account the sun's exposure, the allowable buildable footprint based on town code, and which trees to save or cut (ugh). Only one tree would be affected.
Now that we know where the pool was going, I had to design the rest of the yard. The existing mammoth staircase needed to be modified smaller. Currently, it was L shaped and it ended almost in the middle of the yard. Because the size of the yard, we only had 2 options. Ideally, the staircase could come half way down and then switch back in the opposite direction, empting on the deck or patio. Several supporting columns would need to be moved in order to do this, so that was out. The second option was to direct it straight downwards - a rather long set of stairs for sure - but it did work within the building set back requirements. That would work.
The stone wall needed to be moved WAY back to accomodate the new plan. Currently, it meandered through the yard randomly, ending in the opposite corner of where it started. We need to push it back, with the dune, to accomodate the new staircase and the pool and stepping stone path we planned. And we wanted to reuse the old bluestone patio and use it in our new expanded wall.
The existing patio was grade level and made from broken bits of bluestone, really stone that was probably left over from the wall. Replacing it with pavers or bluestone would look beautiful but we ran into another problem. That same blue stone patio was also a 50 foot walk way from our driveway to our backyard. All that would have to be replaced as well. After crunching the numbers, we realized that this option was hugely expensive and out of budget. I decided on building a new raised deck directly under the 2nd story deck. Not only was this cost effective, but it increased our outdoor patio space by about 50% to boot. We could build it right over the existing beachstone stairs and gain all that extra square footage. Plus our existing bluestone footpaths could lead right into it and look great.
For the pool design, we really wanted to go with something simple. A blue stone perimeter known as coping and then grass - no patio. I was concerned that grass would get in the pool a lot and I can tell you that 3 months later, it is a non-issue; everyone walks on the coping around the pool anyway. TIP: Upgrade to the widest, thickest coping you can afford- ours in 16 inches. In the high traffic areas, I decided on strategically placing a few blue stone slabs as stepping stones between the staircase and pool and between the deck and pool.
In order to begin this project, the existing yard was going to be completely bulldozed and trampled on. That meant that one of our beautiful flower beds would be destroyed. I could not stand by and watch all our iris, montauk daisies, hosta, day lilies and so much more simply die. Over the course of 3 weekends, we successfully transplanted countless bushes, flowers and plants to other locations on the other side of the property, ultimately beautifying another neglected location. Those plants were worth hundreds, possibly thousand of dollars! And they are all native and deer resistant.
Now that we had a plan of action and the permits, we had to schedule this and get it started! We only had about 30 days to complete the entire process in order to swim by Memorial Day!
The challenge was this: turn an overgrown, weed strewn jungle into a backyard paradise. The yard hadn't been cared for in several years. Approximately 1/2 of the yard consisted of a large sand dune, so in effect there was little usable space. That needed to change. Also present under a second floor deck was a dark, creepy looking stone patio with 3 massive beach stone "steps" leading out of the house. These steps were so large that the patio was unusable - there was no area for a table and chairs or anything else for that matter. We wanted less hills, more grassy yard and a proper patio/lounging area. A saline gunite pool, rock walls, ample patio space and privacy screening were the main features we would be adding. BEFORE.
The budget was moderate but we needed to keep it as low as humanly possible while still getting the results we were looking for. And we wanted to use and reuse as many materials and plants as possible.
First things first, I had to take into account the sun's exposure, the allowable buildable footprint based on town code, and which trees to save or cut (ugh). Only one tree would be affected.
Now that we know where the pool was going, I had to design the rest of the yard. The existing mammoth staircase needed to be modified smaller. Currently, it was L shaped and it ended almost in the middle of the yard. Because the size of the yard, we only had 2 options. Ideally, the staircase could come half way down and then switch back in the opposite direction, empting on the deck or patio. Several supporting columns would need to be moved in order to do this, so that was out. The second option was to direct it straight downwards - a rather long set of stairs for sure - but it did work within the building set back requirements. That would work.
The stone wall needed to be moved WAY back to accomodate the new plan. Currently, it meandered through the yard randomly, ending in the opposite corner of where it started. We need to push it back, with the dune, to accomodate the new staircase and the pool and stepping stone path we planned. And we wanted to reuse the old bluestone patio and use it in our new expanded wall.
The existing patio was grade level and made from broken bits of bluestone, really stone that was probably left over from the wall. Replacing it with pavers or bluestone would look beautiful but we ran into another problem. That same blue stone patio was also a 50 foot walk way from our driveway to our backyard. All that would have to be replaced as well. After crunching the numbers, we realized that this option was hugely expensive and out of budget. I decided on building a new raised deck directly under the 2nd story deck. Not only was this cost effective, but it increased our outdoor patio space by about 50% to boot. We could build it right over the existing beachstone stairs and gain all that extra square footage. Plus our existing bluestone footpaths could lead right into it and look great.
For the pool design, we really wanted to go with something simple. A blue stone perimeter known as coping and then grass - no patio. I was concerned that grass would get in the pool a lot and I can tell you that 3 months later, it is a non-issue; everyone walks on the coping around the pool anyway. TIP: Upgrade to the widest, thickest coping you can afford- ours in 16 inches. In the high traffic areas, I decided on strategically placing a few blue stone slabs as stepping stones between the staircase and pool and between the deck and pool.
In order to begin this project, the existing yard was going to be completely bulldozed and trampled on. That meant that one of our beautiful flower beds would be destroyed. I could not stand by and watch all our iris, montauk daisies, hosta, day lilies and so much more simply die. Over the course of 3 weekends, we successfully transplanted countless bushes, flowers and plants to other locations on the other side of the property, ultimately beautifying another neglected location. Those plants were worth hundreds, possibly thousand of dollars! And they are all native and deer resistant.
Now that we had a plan of action and the permits, we had to schedule this and get it started! We only had about 30 days to complete the entire process in order to swim by Memorial Day!
To be continued.....