Exterior Worlds combines patio construction and masonry to create custom courtyard designs that are intensely personalized to the individual’s favorite activities. 
We build a patio made from a hard surface such as stone, decorative concrete, brick, or gravel stone mixtures.  Some courtyards like morning gardens combine stone, gravel, and grass to create an organic floor within the structure that is stable, easy to drain, and safe to walk on.

As far as the walls around the patio go, there is no hard set rule as to how thick or how high they have to be.  By varying the height of courtyard walls, we can make it as inviting or as private as you want it to be.   Low walls suggest openness and freedom.  High walls suggest enclosure, privacy, and contemplative isolation.  Walls can be built of stone, brick, or even decorative concrete and decorated with both organic and inorganic forms.

If you like to host dinner parties, a custom courtyard design can be created that will provide you with plenty of room for a cooking area, a table, and chairs.
The specifics of this design will depend on what type of cooking you plan to do.  If you are grilling, then you only need space for a grill located off to the side away from the general gathering area.  If you want to prepare full course meals, then we can build the courtyard as a patio extending out from the interior of your outdoor kitchen.  This turns your outdoor kitchen into a combination indoor-outdoor dining area equal to any restaurant in town.

If you like to throw cocktail parties at your home, consider a custom courtyard design centered on a lighted pool with a swim up bar.
Not everyone will want to swim through a lighted pool to get a drink.  However, this is such a bar design that it makes for a superb conversation piece in its own right.  There are plenty of ways, including building a separate standing bar on your patio, to serve drinks to your guests who want to stay dry.

This is a great way to save money on nightlife, avoid crowds, and avoid the risk of drinking and driving provided there are designated drivers for your guests or overnight accommodations for those who have a bit too much fun.

If you want a place for special family occasions, invest in a special custom courtyard design that combines shelter, woodwork, greenery, and beautiful stonework.
These are the things we always want to see anytime we celebrate a shower, birthday, or wedding outdoors.  You probably know enough people just off the top of your head that you could have several events a year if you had just one place in your yard that would function as a multipurpose setting for all of the events named above.

This custom courtyard design could feature mid-level planter walls where flowering plants tip the stones with color.  Gardens can be integrated into the stonework by removing blocks of stone and replacing them with hedges, flowering plants, grasses, and trees.  A fountain can be built into patio itself, and statuary could adorn its perimeter.

Shelter can take the form of a garden pergola or gazebo that rises gracefully up from the patio floor.    Not only does this provide something of a center stage for the guest of honor, but it is one of the best ways to add curb appeal to your house through the use of complimentary architecture.

Outdoor lighting is always an integral part of any custom courtyard design we create.
General lighting is always necessary to clearly mark transit areas in and out of the structure.  Feature lights can highlight your stonework, steps, vegetation, and courtyard walls with multiple layers of light.  Overhead tree lights cast a moonlight glow over the patio to add ambience from an unseen source.