Backyard goals.

Perhaps one of the most ironic parts about our house is that the focus from the very beginning has been the inner courtyard, and yet somehow it has been the last thing to be finished.

Because of budget reasons the pool and all our landscaping for the back yard didn’t get completed with the house. That doesn’t mean that we weren’t planning ahead though. Our guest house is at the exact level as the main house, which meant until now it has been sitting awkwardly above grade. The pool that we added a year ago was also at the same level, meaning it too stuck above grade making it look like an above ground pool. There were also stub outs for gas and electric to go to the back yard.

Well, I’m happy to announce that we are finally one step closer to being finished! The last couple of weeks we finished all the patio area around the pool, finally connecting the back house with the front house. We used Saltillo bricks from Clay Imports for the surface. It gives some much welcomed color and texture to the back yard.

We also finally got the chance to put in our outdoor sunken conversation pit, something we had planned for from day one. We even picked up pillow for it years ago when we were in Morocco. The seating is all white stucco to match the house and it centers around a gas fireplace, perfect for fall nights like tonight.

We still have much more to do (lighting, a fountain, and maybe a greenhouse / kitchen area) but for now we are just happy to see our little oasis on the same level.