Patio of the Week: Contemporary Courtyard Extends Living Outside
Stylish plantings, a compact outdoor kitchen and room for lounging make the most of a shady patio in Dallas
A couple’s desire to have a stylish, modern outdoor living space that would allow them to enjoy their home and garden year-round drove the renovation of this walled patio in Dallas. Downsizing from a larger property in the St. Louis area to a townhouse in their new city, the homeowners were looking forward to having a smaller yard that would be simpler and easier to maintain. They were also excited by the opportunity to grow more arid low-water plants in their new climate.
With the help of DDLA Design Landscape Architecture, the couple now have an outdoor space they can enjoy any season or time of day, complete with spots where they can cook, lounge and entertain. “I think the number of family dinners and bottles of wine enjoyed in the space has definitely increased,” says Lance Dickinson, principal architect at DDLA.
With the help of DDLA Design Landscape Architecture, the couple now have an outdoor space they can enjoy any season or time of day, complete with spots where they can cook, lounge and entertain. “I think the number of family dinners and bottles of wine enjoyed in the space has definitely increased,” says Lance Dickinson, principal architect at DDLA.
Before: “When they moved in, the space was very uninviting and not in great shape,” Dickinson says. There was nowhere to sit, eat or grill, and the yard also had drainage issues.
With the exception of the brick exterior wall, which was required by the homeowners association, the team redid the entire yard. “It was truly transformed into an updated, modern outdoor garden and living area that fit the lifestyle of the owner and blended with the modern style of the building,” Dickinson says.
With the exception of the brick exterior wall, which was required by the homeowners association, the team redid the entire yard. “It was truly transformed into an updated, modern outdoor garden and living area that fit the lifestyle of the owner and blended with the modern style of the building,” Dickinson says.
After: Now an L-shaped sofa and fire feature anchor a corner of the yard designed for lounging. An outdoor kitchen and a dining area encourage outdoor eating. Living walls and new plantings soften hard edges and add privacy, while a new water feature reduces any sounds the homeowners might otherwise have heard from the street.
The double doors lead to the owners’ bedroom suite, and the single door next to the outdoor kitchen connects to the entry foyer.
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The double doors lead to the owners’ bedroom suite, and the single door next to the outdoor kitchen connects to the entry foyer.
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A custom wraparound bench gives the homeowners a comfortable spot for relaxing outside. “We used Trex composite wood as the veneer material to provide a low-maintenance, long-term solution,” as well as to perfectly customize the color, Dickinson says. The team anchored the bench to the concrete below and added storage in the base, which the owners can use to store cushions or other outdoor accessories when not in use.
In front of the sofa, a linear fire pit from Ore Designs features an oxidized patinated zinc finish with pebble infill in the fire strip. “The built-in seating bench and fire pit have certainly turned out to be the most popular area of the garden when [the homeowners] entertain friends and family,” Dickinson says.
In front of the sofa, a linear fire pit from Ore Designs features an oxidized patinated zinc finish with pebble infill in the fire strip. “The built-in seating bench and fire pit have certainly turned out to be the most popular area of the garden when [the homeowners] entertain friends and family,” Dickinson says.
The couch is perfectly positioned for guests to enjoy the wall-mounted outdoor TV that’s opposite it.
A recirculating helix-shape granite fountain from Stone Forest sits just next to the built-in sofa, its trickling water providing a soothing sound in the courtyard that helps block surrounding city noise. “It was chosen for its vertical height and narrow profile to easily fit into the tight space of the garden,” Dickinson says. Two uplights add visual interest at night, with the fountain popping against one of the yard’s green walls.
Artificial-greenery wall panels are strategically mounted in the courtyard. “We designed these panels to help provide some greenery and softness to the surrounding brick walls,” Dickinson says. “We were hoping to use these along with other plantings to break up the brick walls that enclosed the outdoor space.” The panels, by Vistafolia, use synthetic plants and require no watering or maintenance. They’re mounted to the brick walls with masonry anchors.
Artificial-greenery wall panels are strategically mounted in the courtyard. “We designed these panels to help provide some greenery and softness to the surrounding brick walls,” Dickinson says. “We were hoping to use these along with other plantings to break up the brick walls that enclosed the outdoor space.” The panels, by Vistafolia, use synthetic plants and require no watering or maintenance. They’re mounted to the brick walls with masonry anchors.
The design team used large concrete pavers with an acid-wash finish for the paving. Synthetic grass strips break up the expanse of concrete and add some green to the ground. The pavers “were shaped and sized to try to accommodate each of the seating areas and walkways and provide an underlying geometry and pattern that reads better from the upper window views,” Dickinson says.
On the opposite side of the patio, an outdoor kitchen and the adjacent dining area make it easy for the homeowners to enjoy a meal outside. The kitchen includes an outdoor charcoal grill by Hasty Bake, a sink, a trash bin and storage cabinets. The brick veneer on the kitchen unit matches the condo and exterior wall, and the counters are quartzite stone.
A second artificial green wall panel creates an attractive dining view, highlighted with landscape lighting at night.
A second artificial green wall panel creates an attractive dining view, highlighted with landscape lighting at night.
Before: “Shade, privacy and access were definite challenges in the design and construction of this garden,” Dickinson says. “Since there were adjacent multistory townhome units next door, we definitely had the goal of spot-planting some of those views so the neighbors could not see right into the space.”
After: The surrounding buildings shade parts of the yard for much of the day. “We had to focus some of our plant selections on shade-loving plants that would survive with limited sunlight and provide interest for the garden year-round,” Dickinson says. The team used mostly evergreen plants that would thrive in the garden’s shady pockets and provide a modern, eclectic feel.
The homeowners chose to be involved in the plant selection process, both because they are gardeners themselves and because they were excited about growing different types of plants than what they had in St. Louis. As mentioned, they were looking forward to the opportunity to use arid and native plants not available to them in their previous house.
The mostly evergreen, shade-loving plants they used include foxtail agave (Agave attenuata), Carolina laurelcherry (Prunus caroliniana ‘Bright ’n Tight’), coral bark Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Sango-kaku’), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Slender Silhouette’), Adam’s needle (Yucca filamentosa ‘Color Guard’), foothill sedge (Carex tumulicola), dwarf palmetto (Sabal minor), leopard plant (Farfugium japonicum ‘Aureomaculatum’), mahonia (Mahonia eurybracteata ‘Soft Caress’), mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonicus), lilyturf (Liriope muscari) and green aucuba.
All of the plants run on a new, automated drip irrigation system. The space also has a completely new drainage system that collects and drains all of the courtyard water through underground pipes.
The homeowners chose to be involved in the plant selection process, both because they are gardeners themselves and because they were excited about growing different types of plants than what they had in St. Louis. As mentioned, they were looking forward to the opportunity to use arid and native plants not available to them in their previous house.
The mostly evergreen, shade-loving plants they used include foxtail agave (Agave attenuata), Carolina laurelcherry (Prunus caroliniana ‘Bright ’n Tight’), coral bark Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Sango-kaku’), sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Slender Silhouette’), Adam’s needle (Yucca filamentosa ‘Color Guard’), foothill sedge (Carex tumulicola), dwarf palmetto (Sabal minor), leopard plant (Farfugium japonicum ‘Aureomaculatum’), mahonia (Mahonia eurybracteata ‘Soft Caress’), mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonicus), lilyturf (Liriope muscari) and green aucuba.
All of the plants run on a new, automated drip irrigation system. The space also has a completely new drainage system that collects and drains all of the courtyard water through underground pipes.
Before: The original side yard, which connects to a side door of the townhouse, was dark, tight and dull.
After: The design team planted the edges of the side yard and added lighting and new pavers to create a dramatic, intimate garden walk.
A wall-mounted Trex frame at the end of the walk, which is surrounded by another living wall, opens to reveal a mirror. The effect helps make the space appear larger and offers visitors a nice surprise view when they round the corner of the yard or sit at the end of the built-in bench, which looks down the path.
Who lives here: A professional couple; he’s an investment banker and she’s an interior designer
Location: Uptown neighborhood of Dallas
Size: Just under 1,000 square feet (93 square meters)
Designer: DDLA Design Landscape Architecture
Contractors: Design Maintenance Construction, Lone Star Decks and Majestic Outdoor Lighting
The clients envisioned a space that would feel intimate when it was just the two of them but also could accommodate friends and family. They requested a dining area, small outdoor kitchen, fire pit, seating area and fountain, plus new plantings that would help with privacy. “They also wanted to make sure the space was low-maintenance, as they travel frequently and didn’t want to have to worry about the garden when they left town,” Dickinson says.
The homeowners had recently renovated their interior space, which influenced how the design would look. “We both agreed that this space needed to be modernized in style and material to reflect the architecture of the building and the personal style of the owners,” Dickinson says. Using Houzz for design-detail and material inspiration, Dickinson and his team came up with a space that satisfied all of the homeowners’ needs.