Project Description
The project entailed utilizing unusable backyard space from a 10,000sf mountain with a deep pitch to create a 3,000sf hardscape ‘Backyard Oasis,’ extending the home’s indoor rooms to outdoor living spaces. The owners wanted a relaxing, appealing 5-star resort styled oasis for their three-generational family to have fun and entertain. Separate–integrated outside terraces were needed for different family and entertaining functions and were to center on a 1,000sf pool/spa. Hand-cut Peruvian travertine, 1” butter-sticks in a herringbone pattern surrounded and defines the pool. French styled “parterres’ –planting beds, soften the 3,000sf hardscape, which was created with 400 cubic yards of concrete and 200-tons of stone.
Hand-cut crema-travertine 2’x2’ marble tiles with insert chocolate-travertine diamonds line the pathway to terraces, patios, fountain grotto. A custom designed 8’x6’ five-ton limestone Roman Lion-head fountain’s hand-chiseled, semi-circle fieldstone wall delineates the outdoor Lynx-Grill kitchen and dining area, which is transitioned by a ‘rond-point’ mosaic Mandala terrace floor to the portico.
A 300-foot long, hand-cut fieldstone 18” thick, 5’ tall decorative perimeter garden wall with a chamfered top and double bull-nose precast limestone edge holds back the 7,000sf green knoll has several easy access staircases from the backyard oasis. An elegant–convenient backyard entrance was created from the home’s motor courtyard and garages through a hand-forged, wrought-iron, garden ‘moon-gate.’
Creating a level plot of land in order to build the flat 3,000sf backyard living space required excavating and grating the site, removing 4,000 cubic yards of soil and incorporating drainage that directs run-off from the mountain, away from the house. An intricate architectural landscape design balances a long and narrow space, seamlessly incorporating various functions and activities of the backyard, extending the home’s interior rooms to the outdoor living spaces.