Mountain View Residence

A compact lot and a modest budget: a pergola dining terrace, flagstone paths through a no-mow meadow, and food woven in.

The project

Shade first, then a meadow where the lawn died.

The ask was plain: shade, first. The old patio cover was slowly falling down over its cracked concrete slab, and the owners wanted a place to eat outside, plus room to grow some food.

Seven Scapes, my design-build practice, rebuilt the back garden around a pergola over a new paver dining terrace. My father built the pergola himself. Flagstone paths swim through a no-mow fescue meadow where the dead lawn was, and food is woven through the planting: artichokes, berries on a fence trellis.

The result is shade to eat under, paths you can walk barefoot, and a meadow that needs almost no care. DeBell Design today is a design-only practice; the C-27 contractor's license from those years still grounds every drawing.

Before — the cracked concrete slab and sagging painted lattice cover over the old patio — Before — the old patio: the cracked slab, the cover coming down

After — the same corner as a paver terrace under the new pergola, dining chairs in the dappled shade — After — the same corner: the pergola over the new dining terrace

The whole garden in one view — the flagstone path sweeping through the meadow to the pergola dining terrace, blue oat grass and yellow phlomis in the beds — The whole garden in one frame — terrace, steps, path, and meadow

A flagstone path through meadow grass along the side of the house, with a mulched border of natives and herbs at the foundation — The side yard — flagstone through the meadow, the border hugging the house

The back corner — no-mow meadow meeting a mulched bed of artichokes, blue oat grass, and yellow phlomis — The back corner, where the meadow meets artichokes, blue oat grass and phlomis.

Project credits

DesignSharon DeBell

Landscape contractorHelmut Kroos Landscaping

PergolaJohn DeBell, DeBell & DeBell Construction — Sharon’s father

PhotographySharon DeBell

← All work Woodside Woodland Garden →