Urban Backyard: Cozy Conversation Space in Drought-Tolerant Contemporary Garden

This San Francisco backyard was reimagined as a drought-tolerant contemporary garden built for conversation. Perimeter planters, built in redwood, integrate the client's existing plants — including a mature palm, preserved in place — with a new low-maintenance palette suited to the coastal climate, including Kangaroo Paw for color, sculptural Blue Glow Agave, and a Japanese maple that anchors the design with a quieter, more structural presence. A decomposed granite patio forms the main gathering space, threaded by a curved path of poured concrete stepping stones that leads to a raised wood deck furnished as an outdoor lounge. The existing rear deck was reconfigured to frame the new landscape, paired with the new deck at the rear of the yard to extend the outdoor living space. A custom fountain anchors the garden — built from granite columns the client unearthed on their own property, a material as site-specific as the garden itself.