Cheryl
June 24, 2000

Imagine that you've just entered the driveway, and are walking up the walk. To your right, a magnificent Japanese maple shades most of the planted area. Ahead of you, a curved low wall defines a wide porch that extends around the side of the house.Front Yard

I left alone most of the planting area in the front yard, as it blends well with the next-door neighbor's yard and looks pretty good. I am suggesting the client replace the concrete driveway, which is in poor shape, and reshape it so that it follows the curves in the low wall. New flagstone between the driveway and the planting area helps point a new visitor to the front door (the door tends to hide behind the porch posts). The porch itself has been widened--the original porch dimensions can be seen in the plan above as a dotted line where the roof is. I also recommend that the client remove the existing concrete porch and replace it with a new concrete pad on which flagstone is set in mortar.
Sketch of the front porch looking toward the south side of the house
The wall surrounding the porch is made of three courses of concrete block topped with glass block. At the end of the wall, it fades down into the ground. Where the wall curves around to join the side wall, glass block rises to block the view down the side yard.

Return to the main page or continue around the yard to the south side yard.
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