Gaining New Ground: Hillside Backyard Expansion in Piedmont

Zelie and Jack Myers, used to outdoor living in Hawaii, wanted more space in their Piedmont, California turn-of-the-century home. Designers Shari Bashin-Sullivan and Richard Sullivan removed old wooden retaining walls, cut into the slope base, and set new stone and stucco walls at an angle to the slope and house. The expanded patio of random-cut brown Navajo flagstone provides room for tables and chairs around a rustic brick stone wood-burning fireplace. On summer evenings, angel’s trumpet and heliotrope fragrance recalls island life.