This cozy townhouse nestled into a quiet residential street has a deceptively large back garden on two levels. For the front, the owners wanted to upgrade the entrance to make it more inviting but also more formal and fitting with the New Deco architecture and the full house renovation. In the back, where the cozy enclosure is created by the walls of the neighboring townhomes, they wanted a beautiful retreat – something wonderful to look at from the house but also a space for quiet dinners or small gatherings. Added bonus for the neighbors: they have a wonderful garden to look at!The project which took place over several months, first involved the demolition of all almost all existing hardscape (the decking on top of the garage remained) in order to create the new spaces – both the lower level patio accessible from the house, and the garage roof-top patio area. In both front and back, elegant flagstone replaced the brick. Existing wrought iron railings were kept and the wrought iron stairways were rebuilt and refurbished to provide access and to be in a complementary style. A new irrigation system was installed front and back, in addition to landscape lighting.The final product is a jewel-like oasis in the middle of the city that the owners can use for an intimate dinner for two or for entertaining friends and family.The major challenge for the rear yard was the access. Going through the house was not a realistic option so all access was through a relatively tight back alley and garage. The garage was not big enough to accommodate production trucks so they used the alley for parking – the trucks needed to move several times a day to allow others residents to access the alley. All the old material was removed this way (the small door from the garage to the back garden was removed to provide slightly better access) and the new material brought in this way. There was a lot of going up and down steps to shuttle materials back and forth to the different levels of the garden by hand since no machinery was able to be used on site.In re-doing the front which involved an all new stoop, steps, walkway and garden area, the major challenge was parking for our production trucks. The end result is a much more inviting and elegant front entrance.The fountain set into the garage wall, featuring handmade tiles from Motawi Tileworks in Michigan serves as a focal point from the house. A hand crafted water spout is also a prominent feature. There was some existing plumbing but it was significantly improved during installation.
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