Small wonder: a string of outdoor rooms makes every inch count

Sunset, August, 2005 by Peter O. Whiteley

Even small yards can live large if you plan them well. That's what Marla and Chuck O'Connell found out when they asked landscape designer Nick Williams to renovate their garden in Woodland Hills, California. "We didn't like to go outside," says Chuck of the boring lawn-and-concrete front yard that opened to the street, and the tangle of shrubbery around the house. "We needed [the garden] to be livable."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Williams's solution: Add a series of patios around the 1,550-square-foot house and link them together, charm bracelet-style, with paths. Provide privacy with fences, trellises, and well-placed plants, evening drama with firepits and night lighting. And bring in fountains for the soothing sound of water.

Now the O'Connells have multiple places in which to relax, dine, or entertain at any time of day. The new breakfast and entry patios, all-season patio, evening garden, spa garden, and side-yard barbecue area allow the couple to live all over their lot. The house opens on three sides to a garden that provides ample room for large and small gatherings.

Front yard

Williams converted a large front-lawn area into a generous courtyard with a small gas-fed firepit and stone seat wall, and extended the original porch off the front door into the courtyard. He added downlights to the porch, and fenced in the entire front area to provide privacy from the street.

Because the courtyard receives morning sun, it doubles as a breakfast patio. "It's a great place for morning coffee and reading the paper," says Chuck. And on warm summer nights, it often becomes an outdoor dining room.

Rear yard

An 11- by 20-foot covered patio with an outdoor fireplace opens off the back of the house. "We use it every night we are home--rain or shine," says Chuck. Arbors cover the patio and help shade the house's exterior wall.

Just beyond the patio, a firepit and seat wall preside over the evening garden and adjacent pond. In the backyard's left corner is the spa.

Side yards

Along the bedroom side of the house, a gravel path meanders through a private, densely planted landscape. On the house's opposite side, an 8-foot-wide side yard extends living space off the dining room and kitchen. It includes a raised patio with an elevated wall fountain, and a cooking center with a gas barbecue in a tile-topped island.

"We told Nick to do everything to the garden, and he did it--and more." Chuck says. "We love the blend of interior and exterior spaces."

DESIGN: Nick Williams & Associates, Tarzana, CA (www.nickwilliamsdesigns.com or 818/996-4010)

RELATED ARTICLE: The garden plan

1 Breakfast patio. Morning sun warms this patio just inside the entry gates, forming the ideal space for breakfast outdoors. A curving seat wall and firepit, and privacy from the street, create the right ambience for evening parties as well.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

2 Entry patio. Nick Williams extended the front porch into the courtyard and covered the underside of the eaves with bead board. The O'Connells decorated the space with furniture and wall-mounted light fixtures.

3 All-season patio. A fireplace and shelter overhead create an outdoor room that's comfortable all year.

4 Evening garden. With another curving seat wall and firepit near the back of the property, this is an intimate retreat after the sun sets. A garden bench faces a pond that's filled with water plants.

5 Spa garden. A low wall of boulders masks a freestanding portable spa. Next to it, Williams added a third firepit.

6 Barbecue garden. Side yards are often more functional than attractive, but with its fountain and plantings, this area off the kitchen invites outdoor living.

RELATED ARTICLE: Design tricks

* Use recycled materials. Curving stone seat walls in the breakfast patio (A) and evening patio are built of recycled concrete--formerly the entry walk.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

* "Float" an arbor. Made from welded steel mesh (the kind used in concrete driveways), a barrel-vaulted arbor (B) is tensioned between the roof and fence to provide shade and privacy. It's covered with a light-diffusing fabric and a rapidly growing vine to shield this west-facing wall from afternoon sun.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

* Bring comfortable furnishings outdoors. A pair of mahogany chairs with thick cushions give the all-season patio (C) its cozy interior character.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

* Highlight water features. The sound and sight of water animate the garden in two different areas. A tall, cast-concrete water sculpture (D), one of two on the property by Oregon artist Tory Williams, rises to the side of the entry patio. A rock-edged pond is a focal point in the evening garden.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

* Add texture with stone. Beside the entry walk, five vertical, freestanding stone slabs (E) are set at a slight angle to block direct views into the garden from the street.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

PHOTOGRAPHS BY STEVEN GUNTHER