From sun-baked to smashing
An unwelcoming, outdated Santa Monica backyard now offers more room for grown-up gatherings and has become a prime place for family parties too.
Landscape architect Joseph Marek’s clients made do with their Santa Monica backyard for six years, but eventually they decided previous owners’ “improvements” just didn’t fit their lifestyle.
“It was pretty sad,” Marek recalls. “There was a bizarre hot tub separate from the pool. It was black, teal and dusty rose tile, with a lion’s head spout — very ’80s. There was a spiral staircase that had nothing to do with the house. There was no shade. There was no there there.”
The owners, whose three children no longer needed a play space, had requested more grown-up places where they could spend more time outdoors. In response, Marek conceived parts of the yard as extensions of the rooms inside the house, and he made every inch count.
Marek set about conjuring more from less. In a 2,500-square-foot yard, much of it taken up by the pool, he designed an enticing menu of outdoor living options: a new kitchen, dining patio, lounge area and sun deck that not only seem to enlarge the property but harmonize aesthetically with the home’s hybrid architectural style, which he calls “Cali-terranean.”
Marek’s first order of business was removing the hot tub and inserting a sparkling glass-tiled spa in the existing pool. This freed up space for a deck and chaises beside the water. Where the circular stairs once led to the gym above the office in the garage, he created a traditional staircase finished with wrought-iron railings that echo ironwork on the main house.
He added a wood pergola with stucco columns off the indoor kitchen.
“People make the mistake of putting the barbecue far away, and then they end up never using it,” Marek says. “Here, it’s easy to carry food in and out.” The sheltered spot for cooking and dining was outfitted with overhead heaters and lighting. Now the owners grill outdoors every Friday night.
Outside the family room, Marek designed a place to lounge that includes a fire bowl surrounded by a conversation-conducive sofa and four armchairs. When a crowd gathers, dining chairs or chaise ottomans can be moved over for extra seating, and a console table serves as a convenient surface for drinks and snacks.
Two tangerine trees screen a central court, where a tiled fountain built into the base of the staircase is a highlight. “Mediterranean gardens always have the sound of running water,” Marek says. “That little trickle creates such calm. And keeping this area open gives the yard breathing room.” Elsewhere, an olive tree, boxwood, westringia and lavender provide refreshing greenery without requiring excessive water or upkeep.
Bands of Sweetwater sandstone lend subtle definition to the hardscape in each zone. In the central court, the running-bond pattern gives way to a stunning carpet of square pavers bordered by Mexican river pebbles. “It’s like a beautiful piece of fabric,” Marek says. “When you look at it up close, you see how it’s woven.”
Once the backyard was completed, the owners turned Marek loose on their front yard. He transformed that too, getting rid of the gate and a curved path shrouded by overgrown shrubs. Visitors now approach via a straight stone walkway leading to the front porch and its crown of wisteria. As if to signal the quiet retreat in back, a pond filled with water lilies beckons from an alcove of boxwood, pittosporum and lomandra.
Today Marek’s clients and their family can be found outside almost all the time. “When I see pictures on Instagram of the kids with their friends in the backyard,” he says, “I know I’ve created a place they want to be.”