Using Outdoor Spaces As Rooms

Organizing your yard into rooms that you love to live in is a great way to get full use out of the landscape that surrounds your home. The art of using outdoor spaces as "rooms" is a design principle perfectly suited to Northern California. Some say the concept first took hold in 1955 when landscape architect Thomas Church published his book "Gardens are for People." Others point out that designating certain areas of the landscape for specific uses goes back to the ancient Greeks and Romans. No matter how you look at it, there's no mistaking that today's homeowners want their yards and landscapes to play a big role in their daily lives. And that takes some planning.

A list of what the landscape professionals of the California Landscape Contractors Association have created for outdoor living is truly amazing. They've designed and built outdoor kitchens with pizza ovens, ultra-chic exterior havens with antique wrought iron chandeliers, built-in seating, contemporary artwork, waterfalls, ponds, gazebos-they've even included formal outdoor fireplaces made of imported marble.

Your ideal design should include areas for the things you like to do outdoors: eat, entertain, read a book or newspaper, take a nap, play board games, soak in the spa, do some bird watching, work on your laptop, or just sit around and sip a cool drink. The rooms should also provide spaces for things you don't have room for indoors. An area to store supplies for hobbies, for example, a place where you can work on your bicycle or throw a big party. Some homeowners even include little nooks or alcoves for their daily meditations and yoga and tai chi regimes.

Award-winning landscape contractor David Kato of Katoscapes in Los Gatos says he was greatly influenced by the principles of Thomas Church in his early career. For the last 20 years, Kato has been creating outdoor environments that offer his clients a refuge from the world. Everything he installs, he designs himself. "If I can create a garden where I feel I can get in touch with myself, I feel that's a way for (my clients) to get in touch with themselves," he says. "I want to create gardens that people can become a part of rather than separate from. I think of the garden as a healing space." Kato says that he relies heavily on his intuition when planning a site. "I think one of the problems we (all) face is that we rarely get in touch with our spirit," he says. "For me every project is a process of unfolding myself, and the site and (my client), it's all integrated."

A landscape Kato recently designed surrounds an estate with a distinctive Mediterranean style. There are several different rooms: a spacious alcove for dining with built-in banquette, a circular water feature surrounded by built-in benches where the homeowners can practice tai chi and a spa/living space area off the kitchen. An adjoining room is equipped as an outdoor kitchen. It's encircled with a wall and has a floor composed of Spanish tile. One of the major structural and design features of the site is Kato's integrated palette of natural stone that adds a calming influence to the site in addition to harmonizing with the home's architecture. The walk from the living space to the circular fountain, for example, is made of French limestone, including the steps, and a pathway of decomposed granite leads to the tai chi area. The edging is of granite imported from China, which Kato chose because it worked well with the granite boulders he found in the Yosemite area and with the flagstone he brought in from Sedona, AZ.

Kato used the stonework to connect the different "rooms," but he didn't stop there. "I brought in a feng shui specialist who helped me and the client integrate the garden with the interior of the house," he says. "Energy is what connects the rooms."

How does he know what kinds of outdoor rooms will please his clients the most? "I do a lot of listening," Kato says. "I think listening is more important than me forcing my ideas. I also 'listen' to the site. I want to know how do I fit in. How can I integrate the garden so we feel a part of it rather than separate from it.

— Joan Waters