French Courtyard on the Far Edge of the Greater Houston Landscape

There was a man with an Arabian horse farm located in New Ulm, Texas—a town not too far from the outskirts of Houston. This man is known throughout the world, and clients often visit his estate to buy the horses he breeds. He asked us to build a French courtyard from which he and his clients could overlook the horses grazing in the prairie on the south side of the hill, and offer a magnificent view of the Greater Houston landscape from the east side of the hill.

The genius of this French courtyard is that it is actually two courtyards in one. The courtyards are slightly separated from one another and connected by a limestone pathway that bisects the center of both sections and runs back to the house. A formal vegetable grows along one section, and on the side of the other section, the hill drops down to the valley below where the horses graze. The first section offers a seating area near a fountain built into a wall. The second section is actually the part of the courtyard that offers the view of the valley of horses from one angle, and the distant Houston landscape from the other.

This section is built with conversation and comfort. The sale of horses is the nature of the homeowner’s business, so the most magnificent view of the herd—and the opportunity to discuss their magnificence—is a very subtle, and also very powerful, tool of business.

The design of this seating area is deliberately austere. Although the property is technically part of the geographic outskirts of the greater Houston landscape, we did NOT want to generate the energy of a hard-driven business deal like parts of the city itself are known for.

Instead, we wanted the 18th Century look and feel of limestone chip walkways and an antique table and chair set in the center of an outdoor patio. We further expanded this historical theme by decorating the patio with an antique table and chair set that established a very strong Old World feeling more apropos to discussing the finer things in life.

Among the more notable features in this French courtyard are its skillful blend of contrasting shades of light and dark colors, and the view it offers visitors of the Greater Houston landscape and the beginnings of the Texas Post Oak Belt.

This creates a very strong feeling of order, symmetry, and vast convergence that balances all of the many organic and inorganic elements of the surrounding garden. It provides an ideal aesthetic environment to host either a formal – yet simultaneously relaxed business dinner. The owner can also use the courtyard to close friends and relatives who drop by to chat for a few hours in the beauty of the garden.

Since 1987, Exterior Worlds has specialized in developing custom projects such as this one many of the finest properties found throughout the Greater Houston area and landscape.