For this classic San Francisco William Wurster house, we complemented the iconic modernist architecture, urban landscape, and Bay views with contemporary silhouettes and a neutral color palette. We subtly incorporated the wife's love of all things equine and the husband's passion for sports into the interiors. The family enjoys entertaining, and the multi-level home features a gourmet kitchen, wine room, and ample areas for dining and relaxing. An elevator conveniently climbs to the top floor where a serene master suite awaits.

Dramatic framework forms a matrix focal point over this North Scottsdale home's back patio and negative edge pool, underlining the architect's trademark use of symmetry to draw the eye through the house and out to the stunning views of the Valley beyond. This almost 9000 SF hillside hideaway is an effortless blend of Old World charm with contemporary style and amenities. Organic colors and rustic finishes connect the space with its desert surroundings. Large glass walls topped with clerestory windows that retract into the walls open the main living space to the outdoors.

Paul Dyer

Saving invaluable existing trees, the backyard was transformed into a collection of easily accessed living areas held together with collections of exotic and butterfly attracting gardens.

Jeri Koegel

The outdoor dining table and bar.

The genesis of design for this desert retreat was the informal dining area in which the clients, along with family and friends, would gather. Located in north Scottsdale’s prestigious Silverleaf, this ranch hacienda offers 6,500 square feet of gracious hospitality for family and friends. Focused around the informal dining area, the home’s living spaces, both indoor and outdoor, offer warmth of materials and proximity for expansion of the casual dining space that the owners envisioned for hosting gatherings to include their two grown children, parents, and many friends. The kitchen, adjacent to the informal dining, serves as the functioning heart of the home and is open to the great room, informal dining room, and office, and is mere steps away from the outdoor patio lounge and poolside guest casita. Additionally, the main house master suite enjoys spectacular vistas of the adjacent McDowell mountains and distant Phoenix city lights. The clients, who desired ample guest quarters for their visiting adult children, decided on a detached guest casita featuring two bedroom suites, a living area, and a small kitchen. The guest casita’s spectacular bedroom mountain views are surpassed only by the living area views of distant mountains seen beyond the spectacular pool and outdoor living spaces. Project Details | Desert Retreat, Silverleaf – Scottsdale, AZ Architect: C.P. Drewett, AIA, NCARB; Drewett Works, Scottsdale, AZ Builder: Sonora West Development, Scottsdale, AZ Photographer: Dino Tonn Featured in Phoenix Home and Garden, May 2015, “Sporting Style: Golf Enthusiast Christie Austin Earns Top Scores on the Home Front” See more of this project here: http://drewettworks.com/desert-retreat-at-silverleaf/

This great outdoor living area is perfect for the quite getaway or for entertaining friends. The colors of this Tennessee fieldstone are spectacular and go great with the lighter travertine. One of my favorites. Great seating walls beside the fireplace Beautiful patterned travertine natural stone patio!! Tennessee Fieldstone with a grout joint

Exterior Worlds Landscape, Pool & Patio Design & Installation Case HistoryExterior Worlds was recently involved in collaboration with renowned Houston architect Gary Chandler. Mr. Chandler was hired to remodel a home for a resident who spent considerable time entertaining business clients at his residents. The new space was intended to function as a dining terrace and lounging for clients. Mr. Chandler designed this terrace as a grotto with a distinctively classical tone. It consisted of the dining space itself, a fireplace, and seating areas. Exterior Worlds was contracted to develop the surrounding outdoor space with a landscape and garden design that would support the vision and structure of the grotto. The primary support element we created was a garden. Its design was abstract, being characterized by only a few elements distinguished by very simple forms. Gravel was used profusely throughout in order to provide plenty of walking space. Vegetation was kept to a minimum to ensure low maintenance. Antiques were then placed in the garden as decorative focal points. This created a color scheme that alternately complimented and contrasted that of the grotto. To ensure the privacy of visiting clients, we screened the garden off from the neighboring residence by planting an alley of trees. The near side of the alley functions as a walkway that provides visiting guests with a sweeping tour of the garden. The backside of the trees presents an attractive, albeit impenetrable screen that prevents anyone outside the property from looking into its interior. Our team further developed the landscape as a whole by planting a backdrop of trees. These trees, when illuminated with artificial moonlight, created silhouettes that bathed the surrounding yard, and the garden within it, in an ambient blend of light and shadow. Transition in and out of space was another important support element in this project. In order for guests to comfortably enjoy the dining area, and then move with ease into the landscape at will, it was necessary to create simple and inviting transition areas. We decided that gravel would be the best material to use in building pathways through the garden. We based this on several factors. Gravel has a Zen-like quality to it that makes it very calming to the mind. Guests walking through the garden in the evening would feel more relaxed and comfortable discussing business. The aesthetic of gravel is also a curious blend of classical and modern tones, so it is the ideal complement to anything with classical architectural elements. It is also an excellent material to use for planting trees in the hardscape because it facilitates irrigation and drainage. One of the pathways we built in this project, in fact, doubled as a concealed drain. Additional visual interest was created with sculpture and dwarf mondo mounds. The irregularity of green forms and pottery contrasted with the rectilinear forms of the classical hardscape. When viewed in its entirety, the final scene took on the dimensions of a painting. Landscape lighting was done by a partner company, Illuminations Lighting and Design. ILD uplit the trees and feature lit the sculptures. They also created functional, artificial moonlight with mercury vapor tree lamps. Transition spaces throughout the property were illuminated with path lighting.

“I am so pleased with all that you did in terms of design and execution.” // Dr. Charles Dinarello • Our client, Charles, envisioned a festive space for everyday use as well as larger parties, and through our design and attention to detail, we brought his vision to life and exceeded his expectations. The Campiello is a continuation and reincarnation of last summer’s party pavilion which abarnai constructed to cover and compliment the custom built IL-1beta table, a personalized birthday gift and centerpiece for the big celebration. The fresh new design includes; cedar timbers, Roman shades and retractable vertical shades, a patio extension, exquisite lighting, and custom trellises.

Hacienda-style front courtyard with a Mediterranean- stye carved stone fountain with blue tile and rustic-style wood outdoor seating with plush cushions. Photo Credit: Kirk Gittings

A fun, custom and unique creation we designed and constructed which incorporates many facets to your outdoor living experience! With symmetry in mind we still wanted to bring forth a "softness" to this ensemble. Soft arches and curves combined with a balanced layout and symmetrically cut stone. We used one of our favorite types of stone for the facade- an Oklahoma thick flagstone called "Ozark". We installed this in a dry stack pattern for all vertical surfaces other than the sides of the chimney and pizza oven where we used a buff colored mortar to create a shadow joint. A thick Pennsylvania Bluestone was used for the counter top. The intricate "thin flag feather" insets and backsplash is a Tennessee thin flgastone veneer called "Crab Orchard ( gray). This was painstakingly cut and installed piece by piece in a dry stack pattern. Extremely time consuming but gorgeous! The chimney sits app. 12' tall and the pizza oven sits app. 9' tall. Plenty of room in between for the Green Egg, sink, refrigerator, grill and cabinets. Low voltage night lighting was also incorporated into the backsplash as well as surrounding landscape. We also recommend a clean burning wood for pizza ovens. This one is stocked with European White Birch. These photos do not do this project justice, yet due to the season we will be posting better ones come summer time. Copper planters will also be placed on top of the 16" wide backsplash cap. Our company concentrates on presenting our clients with unique, top quality additions to their home and life with the best products and professional artisans. All styles and types of landscape and hardscape designs coupled with quality and service is our goal. 30 years serving the Atlanta and North Atlanta community. Visit us at arnoldmasonryandlandscape.com and contact us!

This Houston outdoor kitchen and entertaining area offers a modern take on Mediterranean style. Designed and built by Outdoor Homescapes of Houston, this fully loaded family and entertaining space echoes the stucco, travertine tile patio and Mediterranean style of the existing home while exuding a more modern, transitional style. “This was a high-profile client – both VPs of different oil and gas companies who entertain affluent guests on a regular basis – so they wanted to make sure they had high-end appliances and all the latest amenities they could order,” says Lisha Maxey, senior designer for Outdoor Homescapes and owner of LGH Design Services in Houston. “They also have two kids, ages 7 and 10, and wanted a family gathering space that better accompanied their new, luxurious pool.” What really sets apart this outside kitchen design idea, however, is the way the elements are used throughout the space. “Usually, outdoor kitchen designs for a backyard are grouped into one island or cabinet,” explains Outdoor Homescapes of Houston owner Wayne Franks. “But here, the patio, roof and fireplace were all in place, separated by stucco columns, and the outdoor kitchen elements had to work around them.” A 14-foot-long cooking island houses a built-in Fire Magic grill with a Magic View Window (allows the chef to check on food without lifting the lid and losing valuable heat). The island, the countertop of which is "Carnaval" granite from Lackstone, also features a Fire Magic power burner, warming drawer and trash drawer. On one side of the fireplace, forming an “L” with the cooking island, sits a built-in Primo ceramic grill. On the other side of the fireplace is a 3-foot-long cabinet housing a bar with a wine cooler, ice maker and upper cabinet. And finally, just outside the patio door is a 7-foot-long cabinet with a modern Kohler sink with a high-arc Moen faucet (sink and faucet from Faucets Direct), a trash drawer and another upper cabinet. Outdoor Homescapes of Houston, by the way, outfitted both cabinets with glass inserts, custom pulls and three-way sensor lighting. “At the beginning, this was basically a blank space with a fireplace in the middle,” says Maxey. So Outdoor Homescapes upgraded the fireplace with Austin Stack Stone in white (No. 401) from Colorstonescreenshot vickers mosaic tile rectangle. "The stone added that pop,” notes Maxey. The fireplace’s espresso-colored, distressed wood mantel (from Mantels.com) and upper wood cabinets were both stained with the Minwax color Jacobean. The ceiling fans were also updated with ones featuring similarly espresso-colored, wooden fan blades, to match. The table in the middle - a cast-iron, Mediterranean style gem with hand-forged scrollwork designs from Patio 1 in Houston – seats 10. “We wanted this kind of Mediterranean feel,” says Maxey. “We wanted rustic, but the appliance package was so new, with all its stainless steel, so we kept a the cabinets and the columns stucco instead of stone for a more clean, modern look and then did the custom tile backsplash and mosaic in more of a rustic, Mediterranean look." The backsplash is a 1-inch travertine tile background with 4-inch square metallic insets, both from Floor & Decor. The tile for the 18-by-24-inch rectangle mosaic came from Great Britain Tile Co. and included a Dianno Reale tumbled border and background. The bronze, diamond-shaped insets are tumbled Dark Emperdor tile and the scrolls are tumbled Noce tile. The client, who admits they have high standards, was more than pleased with the project – especially browsing through Outdoor Homescapes’ vast library of patio kitchen design ideas, the 3D virtual video tour that let them preview the project from every angle before construction. They also liked the personalized design consultation. "OH provides a very neat service where one of their designers will either shop/buy for you or shop with you for the more detailed pieces that will finish your home," reads the client's review on Houzz. "This was a very positive, personalized feature ... Lisha helped narrow down an enormous marketplace of materials and finishes to a few we could choose from."

Charles Hilton Architects & Renee Byers LAPC From grand estates, to exquisite country homes, to whole house renovations, the quality and attention to detail of a "Significant Homes" custom home is immediately apparent. Full time on-site supervision, a dedicated office staff and hand picked professional craftsmen are the team that take you from groundbreaking to occupancy. Every "Significant Homes" project represents 45 years of luxury homebuilding experience, and a commitment to quality widely recognized by architects, the press and, most of all....thoroughly satisfied homeowners. Our projects have been published in Architectural Digest 6 times along with many other publications and books. Though the lion share of our work has been in Fairfield and Westchester counties, we have built homes in Palm Beach, Aspen, Maine, Nantucket and Long Island.

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