MG EXPERIENCE LUXURY
MG EXPERIENCE LUXURY
he often designs a water feature. “The 16-foot louvered gates open to a float- ing courtyard with brushed-marble walking pads, a sculpture pedestal, and a waterfall that spills over and down to the garage level,” he notes. “In addition to the privacy element, we have come to think of this area as an art piece, like a sculpture, to be appreciated daily.” LaRue Architects in Austin imag- ined a courtyard that checks all the boxes, yet doesn’t block the views. “With the sun on the opposite side of the home, this is a great spot to enjoy morning coffee or as a greeting or wine courtyard when the weather is just right,” says architect James D. LaRue. “This courtyard also allows the home to have full-height glass on both sides, with great views to either side—downtown Austin views to the east, and the ‘Amor’ art installation to the west.” MULTIPLE COURTYARDS A house’s orientation can sometimes welcome more than one courtyard. Mirador Group’s Country Lane project in Houston, for instance, has a gated courtyard at the home’s entrance, landscaped with native grasses and fruit trees. However, there’s another court on the property. “The private owners’ courtyard is directly adjacent to the primary bedroom and features a masonry
plinth that frame a bronze fire-pit seating nook,” says principal designer Michal Kapitulnik. A firehouse-turned-residence in Hoboken, New Jersey, is the site of a project by Wills Design Associates. Wills Grover intended this court to be a gathering spot for friends as much as an after-work retreat for the homeowners. “This courtyard was a pre-existing feature, but it was a rudimentary concrete pit that required a complete overhaul,” she says. “The addition of a deck, complemented by wood walls and seating, revitalized the space, seamlessly integrating it with the adjoining living area through expansive double glass doors.” Wills Grover incorporated a coffee table with a removable top to double as a fire pit in cooler weather.
define the courtyard, as in a house by Specht Novak in Dallas’s Preston Hollow neighborhood. “You pass through a relatively narrow space between two large concrete walls and then through the courtyard before reaching the front door of the house,” he says. “This allowed for all- glass living spaces while having minimal visual contact with the public street. It also functions as a ‘compluvium’—like those common on ancient Roman houses—collecting rainwater, in this case for irrigation.” At the Modern on the Waterfront mansion on San Francisco’s Belve- dere Island, Portuguese limestone continues from the main floor’s living space into the court. “As one is nearing the house, the bay and Mount Tamalpais beyond it are visible through the floor-to- ceiling windows,” explains Federico Engel, managing principal at Butler Armsden Architects in San Francisco. “The courtyard is the first private space guests and homeowners access, either from the garage or from the front gate on a busy public street, and it offers an immediate respite amid the clean lines of the contemporary enclosure.” This court protects from the sun and wind coming off the bay. Omar frequently employs the courtyard concept in his work, and like the court at the organic minimal- ist Channel House in Beverly Hills,
wood-burning fireplace with a limestone-paved seating area,” Blitzer says of the space inside stucco walls. “The natural canopy of the trees, already existing on the lot, creates a quiet oasis.” At Tree House in La Jolla, the state-of-the-art entertaining court- yard may be the main event, but two other courts are on the property. One is a Zen court connecting to the primary bedroom. “A privately accessible Ofuro [soaking tub] made of Hinoki cypress beckons the owners into the Japanese-inspired dry garden for a relaxing soak,” McGowan says. But the “arrival court,” with a calming water feature, sets the scene for what lies ahead. A Niwaki-pruned black pine tree injects “a touch of liberated nature into the otherwise ordered space,” McGowan notes. “The strong architectural presence of the board-formed concrete wall immediately leads your attention to the sound of gurgling water and the coastal view beyond.” ■
MODERN CLOISTERS Sometimes, a home’s interior spaces
Top: Native grasses and fruit trees add texture to this low-maintenance courtyard at a Houston home by Mirador Group. Bottom: In the same home, a second courtyard is adjacent to the primary bedroom and features a wood-burning fireplace.
Above: Surfacedesign fashioned a less-than-traditional yet lushly planted court in Mission Dolores, San Francisco. Right: A courtyard at a Dallas home by Specht Novak functions as a “compluvium” and collects rainwater for irrigation.
warmth to the entry,” and manganese brick echoes the material cladding of the main house. Since this property had limited space for a backyard, the courtyard also presents functional exterior living space. San Francisco landscape architec- ture firm Surfacedesign imagined a less-than-traditional yet lushly planted court in Mission Dolores, one of the city’s oldest and most vibrant districts. The design team chose sliced, reclaimed Sonoma fieldstones to clad a wall with a landscaped grotto on the upper terrace, which offers a dining nook and garden. “The lower terrace features a bronze-clad water wall and cantilevered concrete
“A courtyard is a designed barrier between you and everything else.” JAE OMAR, LOS ANGELES-BASED ARCHITECTURAL DESIGNER
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