Vintage California Craftsman Garden Makeover

Marla Koosed and Ron Smoire remodeled their late-1940s home to vintage California Craftsman style, then asked landscape architect Rob Steiner to design a complementary garden. Steiner created an open-air front yard “parlor” with private seating behind a low wall, more public seating in front, and a neighborly seating wall in the garden center. Backyard features a gravel dining terrace; a portion of the driveway became an outdoor “lounge” connected by a large landing with wide steps doubling as seating.

Timeless Details

Broken concrete recycled from the old driveway paves the new driveway and entry courtyard for instant patina. Porch and seat walls use buff-colored concrete with textured surfaces and rounded edges for an aged look. The lawn was reduced for paved living spaces; now “our yard’s never looked more like a garden.” The design won a Sunset 2006-07 Dream Garden Award.