The hill looks west to a Hill Country sunset, but it was a blank slope of turf over bedrock with no reason to climb it. The project turned it into a single outdoor room, set into the hillside’s natural terraces. The approach is a sequence. A stone path crosses the lawn, and cedar bridges span a dry creek that carries stormwater around the slope. Blue limestone steps climb through a dry garden of whale’s tongue agave, Agave americana, golden barrel cactus, beaked yucca, pale-leaf yucca, Texas sotol, prickly pear, and pride of Barbados. A limestone water feature is tucked into one of the terraces on the way up.
The patio sits on the upper terrace so the evening sky becomes the room’s fourth wall. Its height was set so the planting below crests just above the edge, framing the horizon rather than blocking it. Behind it, existing ashe juniper and live oak screen the street and enclose the space. The patio and seat wall are Lueders limestone, matching the home’s stone façade. At the center, a custom round concrete fire bowl turns the chairs toward both the fire and the horizon. Big muhly, Gulf muhly, dwarf fountain grass, and dwarf palmetto mix with native blooming perennials and catch the last light. The hill was always the best view on the property. It took stone, water, and fire to make it a destination.
Photography by Frank Garnica
