An Awe-Inspiring Outdoor Transformation

Multiple entertainment spaces are created in an extensive building and landscaping renovation project.

By: Jeff Stafford

Related To:

Shop This Look

Photo By: Sylvia and Tim Small

Photo By: Cruickshank Remodeling, www.CruickshankRemodeling.com

Photo By: Sylvia and Tim Small

Photo By: Cruickshank Remodeling, www.CruickshankRemodeling.com

Photo By: Sylvia and Tim Small

A Pavilion for All Seasons

This formal garden with a two-story pavilion for entertaining is part of an extensive building and landscaping project by Cruickshank Remodeling. The homeowners had recently purchased the adjacent property which contained a mid-century ranch house. After demolishing the structure, the yard was then graded and reconfigured into upper and lower lawn and garden areas, taking advantage of the elevation change in the lot. The design goal was the creation of various entertainment spaces that can be viewed in our before and after visual tour.

The Challenge Begins

This ranch house will be torn down and the entire lot will be reconfigured into multiple and distinctly different outdoor spaces to complement the owner’s existing home and property on the left. The new areas include an upper lawn, suitable for a party tent, a formal garden, an outdoor room for entertaining and a sweeping lower lawn which ties into the back yard of the adjacent house.

High and Low

A view from the lower backyard of the soon to be demolished ranch home gives a clear indication of how the yard will eventually be transformed into upper and lower sections with completely diverse environments.

Makeover Potential

The lush backyard presented some design and construction challenges due to how much the yard dropped off at the rear of the lot. The builder will have to raise the rear corner of the lot up by six feet to create the desired lower lawn area.

The Pavilion Cometh

On the former site of the ranch house (now demolished) construction begins on the two-story pavilion. The lower level opens to the outdoor room and includes a half bath and a greenhouse. What you see here is the upper pavilion which includes a slate roof, copper gutters, rain chains and a limestone floor.

Grecian Formula

The potential of the lower rear yard is realized in this transformation that preserves some of the original trees while adding new border plantings, a folly in the classic Greek style, and a retaining wall with enclosed raised beds. The stairway leads to the second section of the lower yard where a courtyard, fireplace and greenhouse share an outdoor entertainment space with a two story pavilion.

Before the Renovation

After the ranch house is demolished, this backyard patio area will be reconfigured as an elegant courtyard with access to a two story pavilion. The brick retaining wall topped by hedges will soon become a decorative stone wall housing a large fireplace. To the left of the fireplace in the corner will be a raised bed complete with palm tree, and behind that a greenhouse.

A New Perspective

What was once the nondescript ranch house has been transformed into an architectural marvel complete with a two story pavilion (it contains a half bath inside the arches), a greenhouse in the right corner and the outdoor fireplace in the center of the right wall. All of it is accessible within the new courtyard design.

The Fine Detail

This closeup of the right corner of the new courtyard shows the new stone and brickwork, the raised bed with palm tree and the greenhouse in the background.

Stonework Artistry

The newly designed courtyard on the lower level of the yard is a self-contained outdoor room with a fireplace, raised beds and an entertaining area. The stunning stonework along the right side is both decorative and functional and features an open archway with a view into the lower lot where a small Greek temple is situated.

Ideal for Outdoor Entertaining

The new courtyard is now the perfect space for outdoor dining and entertaining with its surrounding ambience of colorful potted plants, a visually intriguing stone wall (now covered in fig vines) and a unique water feature in the planter under the open arch.

Green Carpeting

This view shows the courtyard’s stone wall (at an earlier phase) and the lush green lawn which runs along the border and curves around to the far corner of the lot which is marked by an enticing garden folly (the mini-Greek temple).

View From a Folly

Situated at the edge of the property in the lower yard, the small Greek temple offers an impressive view of the open lower yard (ideal for tent events and cocktail parties), the enclosed courtyard and the upper pavilion which is obscured here by the temple’s dome.

Top Level Splendor

What was once the front yard entrance to a mid-century ranch house is now the site of a two story pavilion with a manicured lawn and formal garden. The pavilion adjoins the owner’s estate on the left while the far right side of the formal garden is where the driveway once existed.

Obelisk Accents

Sculpture always adds additional visual interest to any yard and this lovely obelisk adds a memorable accent to the newly created formal garden with its crushed rock pathways, rose beds and bench seating. On the far left side, a stairway leads down to the lower yard.

Secret Stream

An attractive water feature combining a stream and waterfalls that empty into a pool connects the new yard (note the pavilion in the background) with the owner’s main residence. Ed Castro Landscape worked closely with Cruickshank Remodeling on the placement and construction of the rock-lined stream and also oversaw the addition of new plantings in the landscape renovation.

Swim Zone

This is the view from the rear of the owner’s residence with its elegant swimming pool and well-tended rose garden (on the right beyond the frame of the photo). The ultimate outdoor space for entertaining guests, it now adjoins the newly landscaped property on the right side of the estate.

Poolside View

Viewing the edge of the pool and the rose garden from the rear of the owner’s home gives a better perspective on this side garden and its amenities which provide unlimited opportunities for hosted gatherings and events.

Gateway to Roseland

An alternate photographic angle provides intriguing visual details of the rose garden’s layout and aesthetically pleasing design.

An Awe-Inspiring Outdoor Transformation

Related To:

Shop This Look

A Pavilion for All Seasons

The Challenge Begins

High and Low

Makeover Potential

The Pavilion Cometh

Grecian Formula

Before the Renovation

A New Perspective

The Fine Detail

Stonework Artistry

Ideal for Outdoor Entertaining

Green Carpeting

View From a Folly

Top Level Splendor

Obelisk Accents

Secret Stream

Swim Zone

Poolside View

Gateway to Roseland

24 Awe-Inspiring 'Good Bones' Outdoor Transformations 48 Photos

Inspiring Transformations from HGTV's 'Build It Forward' 14 Photos

35 Before-and-After Backyard Transformations 70 Photos

Kate Hudson Transforms an Overgrown Landscape Into a French-Inspired Retreat 15 Photos

Landscape Pathways 10 Photos

Life's a Porch: Great Porch Transformations from HGTV's 'Home Town' 25 Photos

Related Pages