Outdoor Living Room: Expanding a Scottsdale Backyard

From Unused Lawn to Furnished Patio

Nancy and Gary Rossman replaced a large, unused lawn with a furnished outdoor room. Landscape architect Nancy E. Wagner expanded the patio by 500 square feet and added a substantial fireplace positioned as a focal point from indoors and the yard. Low walls provide extra seating. Flowering shrubs and vines—cat’s claw, Natal plum, palms, pink trumpet vine, pyracantha, yellow oleander—soften the hardscape. Mature ficus trees were preserved and canopy-pruned for spaciousness.

Year-Round Use

With cozy furniture, speakers, and ambient lighting, the outdoor room is used year-round. “We feel like we added 500 square feet to our house,” Nancy says.