Note: Check out our fun interactive project gallery pages! You may want to open the gallery page for this project in another tab, so you can move back and forth between this description and the design.
This homeowner was ready to make some improvements to her recently purchased Southern California home. With the beach just around the corner from the house, the homeowner’s first project was to renovate her garage into a “Tiny House”-style vacation rental. After completing that home renovation, she contacted Home Outside to get some expert landscape design help for her unique property. The homeowner wanted a clean, organized design that would include defined areas for grilling and outdoor dining, lawn games, gathering around a fire, and space for her dogs. The design challenge for Home Outside was to ensure that the buildings felt private and separate from each other, but that the outdoor spaces for all buildings were integrated into one coherent landscape.
The client purchased Home Outside’s Full Property Plan service and asked us to design two options for her to consider. Samantha, her designer, created two design concepts that both used the space between house and outbuilding as a firepit courtyard. One design featured a large deck running the entire length of the housefront, while the other had a smaller deck and a lawn in front. After reviewing the draft designs over a screenshare call, the homeowner decided she liked the long deck, and she wanted both final plans to be variations of this design.
You can explore the base plan and both draft and final designs on our Project Gallery, complete with Samantha’s notes and image board. The only difference between the final designs is the placement of the stair and walkway to the front door, which the homeowner would determine when her contractor began the installation. Otherwise, the design includes privacy hedges, low-maintenance raised planting beds, a shed for bicycles and utilities, and areas for entertaining, lounging, and enjoying the perfect climate.
