The project collection

Life looks good out here.

Step inside courtyards, pool gardens, porches, and planted retreats. Meet the designers and builders behind them.

Skylights brighten an enclosed porch with white lounge chairs, a fireplace, and a separate dining table

Project Feature

A porch for a narrow, sloping site

Retractable screens and linked outdoor levels make a constrained yard more useful.

Mom's Design BuildEden Prairie, Minnesota

Inside the project

Stone steps and planted terraces connect a poolside sitting area with the wooded slope beyond

Project Feature

A backyard that belongs to the woodland

A plunge pool and fire gathering place sit within a landscape of stone and native planting.

Southview Design

Inside the project

An overhead view shows a rectangular pool and spa set into a pale paved terrace beside the lawn

Project Feature

Water, fire, and a sheltered outdoor room

A glass spa and sunken lounge give an enclosed outdoor environment its focal points.

Ryan Hughes Design Build

Inside the project

A stone-clad covered deck and low patio walls divide sheltered seating from the open lawn

Project Feature

An outdoor room in ashwood, stone, and gray

A vaulted porch and a lower patio give gathering two different settings.

Keystone Outdoor LivingBroomall, Pennsylvania

Inside the project

A pool and spa occupy the center of a courtyard enclosed by the house, with a sculptural fire feature at one end

Project Feature

The house gathers around the pool

A central courtyard brings water into the home's everyday outlook.

Platinum Pools

Inside the project

Lounge chairs sit beneath a large umbrella beside the pool, with stepping slabs crossing the adjoining lawn

Project Feature

An L-shaped lot becomes a sequence of outdoor rooms

Pacific Outdoor Living organizes a pool, cooking area, and garden around the constraints of an irregular lot.

Pacific Outdoor LivingGreater Los Angeles, California

Inside the project

A brick path passes through flowering borders to the entrance of a stone house

Project Feature

An English-garden idea finds a Tennessee vocabulary

A Green Hills planting story shows why an inspiration image needs a local translation.

Gardens of Babylon LandscapesGreen Hills, Nashville, Tennessee

Inside the project

An outdoor fireplace and lounge chairs meet the raised garden edge beside a covered porch

Project Feature

A city yard with room to stay awhile

A porch, fireplace patio, and garden edges reshape everyday use of a St. Paul property.

Mom's Design BuildSt. Paul, Minnesota

Inside the project

A paved terrace with lounge chairs and a picnic table opens toward the lawn and planted garden

Project Feature

A quieter landscape starts below the surface

Reused materials and a revised drainage plan shape a garden near a marsh.

Southview Design

Inside the project

An elevated gabled porch opens toward the garden, with a small dining terrace beneath and beside it

Project Feature

A porch with the warmth of a barn interior

Dark decking, a finished ceiling, and a fireplace bring a room-like character outdoors.

Keystone Outdoor LivingWest Chester, Pennsylvania

Inside the project

The overhead view shows a compact pool and spa set into a broad terrace beside a roofed outdoor room

Project Feature

A raised pool meets the house at its level

A substantial elevation change shapes a pool with a close relationship to the home.

Platinum Pools

Inside the project

A timber shade screen and overhead canopy frame white chairs and potted plants on a paved terrace

Project Feature

A compact Santa Maria yard finds its center

A pergola, a defined patio, and a restrained set of surrounding elements make the gathering place clear.

Pacific Outdoor LivingSanta Maria, California

Inside the project