Front yard now sheltered enough for a family breakfast

With flat space at a premium on this hillside lot, the parking area outside the front door seemed like a waste of usable space. The expanse of asphalt left the entry exposed to passing traffic, with no room for shade trees to filter the sunlight. Cutting down on the amount of paving seemed the obvious answer, but landscape architect Cliff Jones added a new dimension to the yard when he turned it into a private entry patio and garden.

Plantings, an extended trellis, and a fence-rimmed brick patio have replaced much former parking space. With a garage and a bedroom wing projecting forward, the house has a shallow U shape. The 28-foot-long trellis gives the impression of a single horizontal mass and establishes a better-defined entry. Made with 3-by-8 beams, 3-by-6 joists, and 4-by-6 posts trimmed with 1-by-4s, it leads guests ftom condensed parking area to front door. Wisteria covers its top and shades front of house from summer sun. Under the light-fittering mantle of the trellis, beds of azaleas and dwarf agapanthus flank the path to the front door. In the sunnier sitting area beyond, Jones added Japanese maples that rise above a retaining wall.

The used-brick walkway expands to a 10by 1 5-foot patio that fills most of the old parking area. To provide unobtrusive seating for parties, a 14-inch-high, 24inch-wide bench forms a partial rectangle around the patio.

Ringing most of the now-private space is a 42-inch-high fence that steps up or angles up as needed to suit the slope of lot and garden. The fence uses offset lengths of 2by-2s and 1-by-4s to sandwich a central frame, as pictured at right. The result is a fence with depth, texture, and also an illusion of openness.

Jones is with the landscape firm of Ranschoff, Blanchfield, Jones of Redwood City, California. Owners are Margie and Richard Costyla of Hillsborough.