"There was no easy access from the house to the backyard," Koepke explains. "The kitchen area had a picture window, and only one of the family room doors operated; the other two were fixed in place."
She recommended enlarging the two openings and adding 9-foot-tall lanai-style doors. They fold open, accordion-style, to invite sea breezes. "Now there are no interruptions to the sight lines," Koepke points out. "There's no 'in here' or 'out there' but instead, it's as if the back of the house is gone."
The redesign also eliminated the diminutive lawn. "Yes, we had grass, but it wasn't enough for throwing a football around," says Mike, an investor in racehorses at Santa Anita Park.
The Jarvises shared stories of their favorite vacation spots in places such as Hawaii, Tahiti, Costa Rica and Mexico. "We like boutique hotels with little outdoor areas," Mike says. Their preference for open-air patios to dine and relax inspired the designer's approach. She pictured a Mexican village square where people gather with friends, share meals and bring jugs to fill at a communal water source. A wood-burning fireplace and rustic fountain would be focal points.
After contractors removed the original lawn and tiny patio, the designer reconfigured the rectangular yard with a courtyard-like feel. She suggested shortening a towering bamboo hedge across the south property line, drastically reducing ominous shadows cast by its height.
The designer sketched out a fireplace-conversation area, an outdoor kitchen and bar, the dining room and a breakfast nook with a cafe set. Comfortable seating is arranged around the wood-burning fireplace (made from golden stucco and topped with a rusted grain bin, re-purposed as a chimney).
Handmade iron chairs and a daybed, found in Mexico, are upholstered in all-weather fabric that resembles Guatemalan blankets. An 18-inch raised planter box gains new purpose as a cushion-covered bench.
Nearby, water trickles from antique spigots mounted on a half-wall, evoking an Old World fountain. The terrace staircase is tucked behind the wall, relocated from a corner of the yard. The new acid-washed concrete floor looks appropriately weathered. Ochre-pigmented stucco, embedded with sand, ages the appearance of new and existing walls.
