Luxury Backyard

The whole point of a luxury backyard is to create a living experience that unites the highest aesthetic of Nature with the pinnacle of indoor creature comfort. Entertainment is the driving force behind the experience, with landscape design developed around points of interest and patterns of movement from point to point.

An outdoor kitchen in a luxury backyard functions in exactly the same manner as an indoor kitchen. It is built to provide full cooking facilities and has enough space to entertain the anticipated number of guests attending any given function. A true landscape architect will actually design the floor plan and size of the kitchen based on the number of guests expected to attend outdoor parties and family gatherings. The landscaper will also see to it that the architecture, seating areas, and amenities of the structure are congruent with the lifestyle of the homeowner and complimentary to the architecture of the home and the surrounding landscape.

Sometimes people only want a place to sit, talk, and enjoy various forms of media. Landscape architects can build outdoor rooms for this purposes that are fully furnished just like interior rooms. Almost all contain sofas and a variety of chairs. These rooms can also be equipped with a full suite of entertainment media, including stereos, televisions, radios, and DVD players. It is not uncommon either for these rooms to feature lighting control switches so interior and exterior lighting levels can be adjusted to suit different occasions. Some clients who host large parties may even ask us to build an outdoor room with a wet bar and tables similar to those in a pub or sports bar. Such a room can function as the hub of the party in a luxury backyard either as a standalone building or an adjunct to a custom pool and patio.

Many Houstonians living on the larger estates in River Oaks and Tanglewood also like us to design putting greens in their luxury backyards. Many of these wealthy Houstonians enjoy golf as their favorite pastime, but often they do not want to leave the comforts of their own estates to go to the country club. Also, when they entertain guests on the weekend, it is necessary to have some type of fairway available onsite. Normally we have a lighting company come in and install special golf lights to mimic those of larger courses. That way, a guest can enjoy playing at any hour of the evening regardless of natural lighting conditions.

Houston is a very hot place most of the year. However, in the winter, massive fronts of cold air push down from Canada, bringing unexpectedly high winds, chills, and sometimes heavy rains. The air can become very cold and clammy at these times, making the outdoors a very dismal place to be. However, by adding an outdoor fireplace behind the home, a cold and dreary backyard can be turned into a luxury backyard filled with warmth and ambience. Special lighting can also be installed in an outdoor fireplace to mimic firelight during the warmer months of the year, so that even in August, late at night, people can still relax by the “fire” while the cool summer breeze blows across the patio.

Of course, in order for a landscape to suggest true luxury, the backyard must feature an aesthetic that speaks to symmetry, formality, and elegance. Rose gardens are often planted in luxury backyards to give the landscape an Old World sensibility. Classical sculptures and custom water fountains are also favorite mainstays. Sometimes special decorative walls and wall fountains can also be integrated into custom patio design to create semi-enclosed spaces for seating and conversation. Lighting is always adjunct to both form and function in these areas, providing general lighting in areas of concentrated activity and low-level decorative lighting around special decorations and points of interests.