From House To Home

Not content to merely focus on the interior of our homes as a means of self-expression, our design ingenuity has taken its business outside. Whether we plant a garden of carefully placed blooms, install a tranquil Koi pond, a bubbling stone fountain, or a natural swimming pool, the space on the other side of the living room windows has become every bit as important as the décor.

In other words, it’s not merely about maintenance. Mowing the lawn and calling it a day doesn’t quite cut it. Today, the trend is about making the outdoor space a seamless extension of the indoor realm, creating a much-needed environment of serenity to counteract our busy lives. A place to go when we find ourselves in need of peace—but are invariably too busy or simply not inclined to travel much further than our own back yards.

Go into any home improvement store and you’ll see the proof of our passion for complementing Mother Nature: grills that rival the size of gourmet kitchens, table canopies that look like canvas castles, faux rocks to cover unsightly features on the lawn. And while these are pretty fabulous ways to celebrate outdoor living, I daydream about creating a backyard oasis that’s rougher around the edges.

When I was about seven or eight, there was an empty lot, next door, containing the remains of an old house’s raised, stone patio. Surrounded by old trees drooping heavily from massive tangles of ivy, the patio was overgrown with impossibly high weeds and wildflowers, alive with the drowsy chirping of late summer crickets. Slipping around the fence and walking gingerly through the surrounding high grass to the patio, I felt the nervous excitement of someone who was about to be let in on a secret that they weren’t supposed to know. As I surveyed the landscape near a deep, overgrown well, I remember falling in love with that specific combination of abandonment and wild beauty. I never got over it.

Short of moving into a house with a neglected lot next door, I’m not quite sure how I’m going to achieve my outdoor ideal. After all, the adult world generally sees little difference between wild beauty and a strongly worded complaint to the neighborhood association. But one way or another, I’ll attempt to capture the spirit of a time when the simple act of walking through someone’s forgotten yard fueled my imagination.