One Yard, Three Visions

If you’ve ever visited or toured a home with an outdoor living area and wondered how you might have designed it differently, you’re not alone. We wondered how three home building and remodeling firms would design an outdoor living space for the same home. Would their ideas be identical, similar or completely different? We were about to find out.

We sent a floor plan for a 6,100 sq. ft. ranch home in the Southeast United States to three home building and remodeling firms. The floor plan for the imaginary home (shown at right) – provided by ArchitecturalDesigns.com – is for a Mediterranean-style home with six bedrooms and five and a half baths on a 160 ft. by 100 ft. lot.

Each firm was challenged with the task of designing the outdoor living space with a few mandatory elements, including: pool, kitchen, sitting/gathering area, fire element, landscaping and patio surface. The budget for the outdoor space was between $50,000 and $125,000.

The three firms participating in our design challenge — Carlson Homes in Scottsdale, Ariz., Frey & Son Homes in Bonita Springs, Fla., and Architectural Resource in Ann Arbor, Mich. — delivered beautiful and interesting designs. Presented on the following pages are the designs created by our three builders and remodelers. Enjoy comparing their creations, while pondering what you might have done differently, or the same.

1. A Spanish Retreat

Design description by Taco Schmid, project manager, Carlson Homes

My thought process was to bring out the warmth, charm and vibrant color you would find in the Andalusia region of Spain. I wanted the homeowner and guests to feel welcomed and invited to experience the backyard. The elements of detail and the positioning of such gave visual site lines from the main rooms of the home out toward the yard. The main axis is centered along the home, pool and further out to the ramada with the fireplace as its central focal point.

As one explores the backyard, more and more comes to life, such as a great little wall fountain area off of the master bedroom where mom could read a book while the children played in the pool. The polychrome tiles are a true attribute to historical detail that borrows from the yesteryear golden age of elegance. You notice the outdoor kitchen area with its trellis providing cover only after you have been drawn outside with curiosity to view the pool. Because of the frothy bubbles on the sun shelf that were making some water noise, you peaked out back.

After noticing the outdoor kitchen you see a garden area behind a wrought iron gate to the likes of something Addison

Mizner would have designed on a grand estate in southern Florida. The tranquil sound of the fountain in the garden gives you a relaxing feeling and you forget the woes of the day. Maybe you’ll step up into the ramada and reflect on the enjoyable fireplace setting. It all feels welcoming, and the ambient details inspire you to pull up a chair and enjoy this cheerful setting while sipping on some refreshing lemonade offered by your hosts.

The outdoor kitchen consists of a 48-in. barbecue grill, sink, outdoor fridge and ice maker. I have granite countertops for some possible seating and a trellis above for some shade and added interest. The outdoor dining area is directly next to this space, and an herb garden is in the planter area adjacent to the trellis post below.