The Craftsman

Originally built in the 1940's, this Arts + Crafts style house had a hidden, overgrown patio behind a large retaining wall that had been unused for years. Over the years it had seen some out of style improvements, like a concrete floor and chain handrails, and needed to be revived. The client in this case wanted to build the project themselves on a tight budget as a passion project, so I designed it to be relatively straightforward.
The two brick fireplaces were originally intended to be for fun and for grilling. Restoring both to be usable was primarily a matter of cutting back the overgrown foliage, but also installing a spark arrestor to ensure they wouldn't start a fire. Breaking up the concrete pad left the client with an excess of material from which a bench could be constructed, but also revealed the original patio floor. The original was course laid stone slabs with pea gravel joines, so the new patio was built the same way. Installing a shelter to dry wood performed double duty to block a deer path.