Yard of the Week: Midcentury-Inspired Lounge for Relaxing
A design firm transforms a small backyard in Austin, Texas, into a multipurpose outdoor retreat — with a new plunge pool
A couple who had recently relocated from the Pacific Northwest to Austin, Texas, wanted an outdoor extension of their living space where they could enjoy the warm weather year-round — with a pool and space for entertaining. Mixing clean-lined steel, stone, bamboo and tropical hardwood, Austin Outdoor Design created an outdoor retreat with plenty of room for alfresco living.
Before: The midcentury home’s original flat backyard wasn’t inviting or functional. “In the back, there were a couple of semicircular staircases that came from the two doors down to ground level. Aside from that, there was an awkward slab in the back-left corner, some fencing that was falling apart and some overgrown shrubs,” says José Roberto Corea, founder and design principal at Austin Outdoor Design.
After: A new steel-frame stone dining patio sits just off the home. “One of the great things about being here in Texas is we have access to local Lueders limestone, which has a light-colored tone to it that’s very beautiful and homogenous,” Corea says. “Our clients had a very soft, modern midcentury design style, so we wanted to go with the light palette.”
Two custom-designed blue shade sails frame and shelter the new dining area, providing much-needed protection from the sun while still allowing sunlight to filter through. The wood picnic-style dining table and benches echo the wood decking used in the project and offer enough space to host eight people comfortably.
At one end of the patio, Corea’s team incorporated a 32-inch grill into a Lueders limestone countertop set atop a base of garapa wood — a high-density, durable hardwood native to Brazil. Access to the underside of the grill is in the back, “so we could keep that really clean look from the front but still change the propane tank. Plus, there’s more storage there,” the designer says.
One step down, a seating area features cantilevered steel benches — which are lit from below — topped with tailor-made cushions covered in Sunbrella fabric. The garapa cladding for the outdoor kitchen doubles as the back to the bench in the lounge. “Since it was such a tight space, we needed our design choices to have more than one function,” Corea says.
One step down, a seating area features cantilevered steel benches — which are lit from below — topped with tailor-made cushions covered in Sunbrella fabric. The garapa cladding for the outdoor kitchen doubles as the back to the bench in the lounge. “Since it was such a tight space, we needed our design choices to have more than one function,” Corea says.
Steel edging frames the sunken lounge. It also enabled the team to cleverly conceal lighting and clearly distinguish the various outdoor areas. “We created some of the levels with raw, mild steel, which gave us an opportunity to actually use the steel structurally,” Corea says.
Dark basalt gravel, a permeable material, unifies the backyard design and also helped to solve a practical design dilemma. “One of the challenges when working in the city of Austin, especially in the more central neighborhoods, is that we are limited by [restrictions on] impervious cover,” Corea says. “We knew that the decking counts as 50% of the impervious cover. Pavers or gravel areas don’t count at all against impervious cover,” he says.
Outdoor fireplace: Malm
Dark basalt gravel, a permeable material, unifies the backyard design and also helped to solve a practical design dilemma. “One of the challenges when working in the city of Austin, especially in the more central neighborhoods, is that we are limited by [restrictions on] impervious cover,” Corea says. “We knew that the decking counts as 50% of the impervious cover. Pavers or gravel areas don’t count at all against impervious cover,” he says.
Outdoor fireplace: Malm
On the other side of the yard, a new custom pool offers a convenient place for cooling off on scorching-hot summer days. “Whenever we do one of these plunge pools, it’s essentially about how to utilize that as another living space,” says Corea, who incorporated an underwater bench into the shallow pool, which is is 9 by 17½ feet. “The pool maxes out at about 4½ feet [deep], so you can engage with the space beyond,” he says. The team used Lueders limestone for the pool coping.
The build team leveled and flattened the areas around the pool so that they could hide the pool equipment underneath a portion of the deck, further maximizing usable space.
Wanting to create a midcentury vibe also influenced the choice for the poolside decking, Corea says. “We didn’t want to go with something super dark. Instead, we wanted something natural to bring a warmth that was also pretty light,” he says. Corea chose garapa wood to craft the clean-lined deck, tying it in with the other wood elements in the design.
The build team leveled and flattened the areas around the pool so that they could hide the pool equipment underneath a portion of the deck, further maximizing usable space.
Wanting to create a midcentury vibe also influenced the choice for the poolside decking, Corea says. “We didn’t want to go with something super dark. Instead, we wanted something natural to bring a warmth that was also pretty light,” he says. Corea chose garapa wood to craft the clean-lined deck, tying it in with the other wood elements in the design.
Low-maintenance plants such as pindo palm (Butia capitata), European fan palm (Chamaerops humilis) and wall germander (Teucrium chamaedrys ‘Prostratum’) provide a tropical poolside vibe and don’t require constant maintenance. “We always design with plants that require little water,” Corea says.
Dwarf palmettos (Sabal minor) grow in a planter next to the pool. An elegant living fence of seabreeze bamboo (Bambusa malingensis) — a clumping species that will grow up to 15 feet — offers privacy and an attractive backdrop.
Drip irrigation also has been incorporated throughout, so the homeowners don’t waste water due to high evaporation.
Dwarf palmettos (Sabal minor) grow in a planter next to the pool. An elegant living fence of seabreeze bamboo (Bambusa malingensis) — a clumping species that will grow up to 15 feet — offers privacy and an attractive backdrop.
Drip irrigation also has been incorporated throughout, so the homeowners don’t waste water due to high evaporation.
Strings of outdoor lights add ambiance after the sun sets, so any parties can continue long into the evening, whether people lounge in front of the fire pit or float in the plunge pool.
“This backyard was definitely quite a transformation,” Corea says.
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“This backyard was definitely quite a transformation,” Corea says.
More on Houzz
Read more stories about landscape design
Browse thousands of landscape photos
Hire a landscape contractor
Shop for your outdoor spaces
Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: A young couple
Location: Austin, Texas
Size: 1,500 square feet (139 square meters); 60 by 25 feet
Designers: José Roberto Corea and Jeff Fletcher of Austin Outdoor Design
Designated areas for dining and gathering were important to the homeowners, who also wanted privacy as well as shelter from the Texas heat. The design team incorporated the items on the couple’s big wish list into a small space. The yard now boasts many appealing features for outdoor living, including a custom pool, a kitchen and dining area, and a fire pit to lounge around.