Landscape Design
Patio of the Week
Before and Afters
Santa Barbara’s Relaxed Style Inspires a Landscape Makeover
A designer looks to the Central Coast for a Northern California home’s plant palette, outdoor kitchen and patio
The landscape redesign coincided with a remodel and 350-square-foot addition by Libby Raab Architecture, which included repainting the family’s ranch home in a cool brown that allows the new plant material to pop.
Potted plants frame the Dutch door of the side entry, and the door’s light blue color complements the landscape’s mostly gray, green and blue foliage plants.
Door paint: Van Courtland Blue; house paint: Dragon’s Breath, both by Benjamin Moore
Potted plants frame the Dutch door of the side entry, and the door’s light blue color complements the landscape’s mostly gray, green and blue foliage plants.
Door paint: Van Courtland Blue; house paint: Dragon’s Breath, both by Benjamin Moore
Two mature field-grown olive trees anchor the corner front yard, joining an existing Japanese maple tree, to create immediate impact and privacy while still allowing light and views into the home. “The front yard is a more public space, but I still like to create a nice entry and sitting area for curb appeal and casual hangouts with neighbors,” Redman says.
The plant palette is made up of mostly soft green, gray and blue-green plants that complement the home, work with the Bay Area climate and evoke the feeling of Santa Barbara. “I used to work on a farm in Santa Barbara as a college job, and I wanted to bring in some of my favorite plants from that time in my life,” Marenghi says. White cabbage roses, rosemary, olive trees, manzanitas, agaves, citrus, fig trees and other native plants and plants from regions with similar growing climates fill the landscape.
Redman opted for loose plantings, irregular clusters and a mix of textures. Windsor boulders and Desert Gold gravel contrast the soft plantings. Corrugated galvanized metal retaining walls bring up the front yard and accent the design.
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The plant palette is made up of mostly soft green, gray and blue-green plants that complement the home, work with the Bay Area climate and evoke the feeling of Santa Barbara. “I used to work on a farm in Santa Barbara as a college job, and I wanted to bring in some of my favorite plants from that time in my life,” Marenghi says. White cabbage roses, rosemary, olive trees, manzanitas, agaves, citrus, fig trees and other native plants and plants from regions with similar growing climates fill the landscape.
Redman opted for loose plantings, irregular clusters and a mix of textures. Windsor boulders and Desert Gold gravel contrast the soft plantings. Corrugated galvanized metal retaining walls bring up the front yard and accent the design.
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After. Around the corner from the yard shown in the previous photo, the home’s main entry features a series of terraced staircases and retaining walls. “The front slope was very steep,” Redman says. They resolved this challenge with colored sandblasted-concrete steps and cedar walls painted to match the house. Loose plantings of low-water shrubs and grasses fill in the planters. The front door is custom rift-sawn raw white oak.
After. The backyard is now where the family hangs out. It includes a fire pit and seating area, an outdoor kitchen, a raised dining area and a hot tub on a new patio. “Removing the grass in the backyard and replacing it with hardscape has made it so much better for entertaining,” Marenghi says. “It is almost like we added another large room to our home.”
The dining table sits on a platform, with a stained cedar pergola providing shade. String lights and an infrared heater enable the homeowners to enjoy alfresco dinners. “I do not think there was one evening this past summer that we did not sit outside to eat dinner and linger a bit,” Marenghi says.
The team covered the back patio with precast hexagonal pavers made of concrete, a durable, attractive material that the homeowner says feels like a modern take on the terra-cotta pavers popular in Santa Barbara.
Outdoor kitchen counter: Neolith; grill: Lynx Grills; concrete pavers: Stepstone; fire pit: Concreteworks
The dining table sits on a platform, with a stained cedar pergola providing shade. String lights and an infrared heater enable the homeowners to enjoy alfresco dinners. “I do not think there was one evening this past summer that we did not sit outside to eat dinner and linger a bit,” Marenghi says.
The team covered the back patio with precast hexagonal pavers made of concrete, a durable, attractive material that the homeowner says feels like a modern take on the terra-cotta pavers popular in Santa Barbara.
Outdoor kitchen counter: Neolith; grill: Lynx Grills; concrete pavers: Stepstone; fire pit: Concreteworks
A bubbler fountain sits in a garden bed on the patio’s perimeter, framed by foxtail fern (Asparagus densiflorus ‘Myers’), flax lily (Dianella tasmanica ‘Variegata’), blue chalk sticks (Senecio sp.) and iceberg roses. “I love that I can hear the fountain from my office when the windows are open in summertime,” Marenghi says.
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Shop for outdoor fountains on Houzz
An outdoor shower is tucked into the side yard, with a stained cedar screen and ipe decking. “The outdoor shower was a last-minute decision, and we do not regret it,” Marenghi says. “There is nothing better than a shower under the moon and stars.”
Photo Flip: 50 Cool Ideas for Outdoor Showers
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Photo Flip: 50 Cool Ideas for Outdoor Showers
More on Houzz
Read more backyard remodeling guides
Find a landscape designer for your outdoor project
Shop for outdoor products
Landscape at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of four and their Labradoodle
Location: Portola Valley, California
Size: A quarter acre
Landscape architect and contractor: Jim Redman of Elements Landscape
Homes in Santa Barbara, California, are known for their terra-cotta tile, whitewashed walls and some of the most beautiful gardens in the state. Accompanying that residential look is a relaxed, idyllic coastal lifestyle.
The owners of this San Francisco Bay Area home and garden aimed to channel both the aesthetics and the emotion of that Central Coast town when they hired landscape architect Jim Redman to redesign their corner lot’s outdoor spaces.
“There is a feeling that I wanted to try to capture in terms of earthiness and beach life,” homeowner Emily Marenghi says. “Santa Barbara to me is [about] being barefoot, strings of market lights, sitting outdoors late into the night, the smell of a grill [and] the sound of a fountain trickling in the background.”