At a glance
- The work
- Pool, covered kitchen, fire area, retaining walls and raised-bed garden
- The palette
- Basalt boulders and slabs, paver pool terrace, timber structure and custom tile
The wedding was part of the brief. On a wooded property outside Spokane, the homeowner wanted room to entertain, swim and enjoy the view—and a landscape that could host her upcoming celebration. Alderwood Landscaping had a generous site to work with, but very little of it was conveniently flat.
The answer was to give each activity its own level. A pool terrace sits above a sunken fire area, while a cabana-style kitchen forms the social edge of the water. Farther down, a staircase reaches a raised-bed garden. From above, the composition is easy to read: water at the center, shelter at one end and smaller destinations stepping into the landscape.
Building with the slope
Basalt boulder retaining walls secure the hillside around the pool. Their large, uneven faces have a different character from the straight lines of the paving and pool coping. That contrast matters here. The construction makes a level place for people without visually erasing the wooded ground around it.
At the fire pit, the boulders become part of the seating arrangement. Chairs face inward, but the lowered position keeps the gathering from blocking the long view across the pool. The terrace has an edge people can occupy, rather than a perimeter that merely separates one surface from another.
A kitchen that supports the whole day
The homeowner's favorite vacation setting in Cabo informed the covered structure. Under its pitched roof, a long counter allows guests to sit near the cook. Patterned tile gives the kitchen its own identity; the timber roof relates it to the craftsman-style house.
An outdoor shower and locker room sit alongside the cooking facilities. These are less conspicuous than the pool's sun shelf or the custom water feature, but they explain how the property can accommodate a long visit. Changing, rinsing off and serving food all happen within the outdoor arrangement.
Below, the raised beds introduce a quieter scale. The basalt slab stair is part of the retaining system, so the route into the garden also reveals how the hillside is held together. After the big gathering, this smaller destination still gives the landscape somewhere to go.
From the project file
Drawings and earlier views from the project firm.
At home
The retaining walls do more than hold the slope: they establish the levels for swimming, cooking and gathering.
