StoneScapes LLC

The homeowners of this urban property outside of Boston wanted a serene backyard setting for entertaining and relaxation. When they purchased their beautiful Victorian style home, a lot of interior remodeling had been done but the previous owner had done very little for the property. An old concrete slab and dilapidated staircase remained and were both unsafe and unsightly. Our design challenge was to create an exterior living space that fit with the historic home in a relatively small footprint and with tight access. In fact, the only access to the site was through a section of fence that had to be removed and set back into place on completion of the project.

We created a semicircle patio with matching seating walls to give an open air feeling to the space. We connected the new patio area to the new stair system and effectively solved the drainage issues that had plagued the backyard for years. We chose cut variegated bluestone for the patio and capstones on the seating walls to give a formal and foot friendly feel to the space. For the body of the walls, we used Goshen stone to tie the red and brown tones into the variegated full spectrum coloring in the bluestone. We used the same combination for the staircase and this gave a connected cohesive feeling. The finished product was a delicate balance of old and new, both inviting and safe for the homeowners to be able to really enjoy outdoor living. The duration of this project was two weeks.