Soothing Entryway

Designed with privacy and tranquility in mind, this Houston courtyard is the ideal escape.

Gilbert and Mary Kay Gaedcke know that living just outside downtown Houston has some great advantages. They've lived on the same street shaded beneath a canopy of magnificent live oaks for more than 30 years and recently built a new house next door to their old one. So it's obvious they like their neighborhood, but they've also learned a thing or two in the years since they first bought in the area.

"While the neighborhood is great," Gilbert says, "our yard backs up to a major road. When we started to design our new house, we knew we wanted as much privacy and noise insulation as possible." With a large stucco wall surrounding the yard, they've done a good job of achieving those goals. But they also wanted their yard to feel inviting and soft. So they contacted landscape architects Richard Dawson and Lawrence Estes for some advice.

All Lined Up

An entrance courtyard seemed like the perfect way to insulate the home from the outside without creating an inhospitable environment on the inside. Mary Kay wanted a visual axis to run from a fountain in the entrance courtyard through the center of the house to a water feature in the backyard. "Being able to look straight through the house and see moving water on both sides really adds the special feel I wanted," Mary Kay says. This axis, however, meant that the front door of the entrance courtyard had to be offset to allow the fountain to be viewed through the front door of the house. With these design constraints in place, Richard and Lawrence came up with a plan.

The Extra Touch

While the sound of the water feature in the courtyard creates a tranquil environment, it is also a prominent design feature. They worked to find other design elements and plant materials that would soften the fountain so that it looked natural. Blue flagstone was used for the curving central walkway and for the side paths leading around the house. They left cracks between the stones of the side paths and planted dwarf mondo grass to give an informal touch.

Next, Richard and Lawrence placed a wax myrtle in the corner to provide a mass of evergreen color that would balance the curved walkway. They added clipped cleyeras and boxwoods to the sides of the courtyard and other plants throughout the space to finish the look.

With all of these features in place, Gilbert and Mary ICay can enjoy the tranquility of nature while still appreciating the best of city life.

EDWIN MARTY

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation May 2004
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