Enough of sweaters and “house burping” to bring in fresh air. I want to get outside! But with lots getting smaller, it is becoming harder to find opportunities for outdoor living.
Builders are getting creative, though, embracing the front porch, weaving in decks, and using the shape of the building to add outdoor space in less obvious places.
Party in the Front
Front porches have been around for years and are prominent across the country. I especially appreciated mine during the pandemic, when it was a place to get outdoors and safely connect with my neighbors.
Even as lots get smaller, the front porch remains a wonderful opportunity—not only as a charming setting for outdoor living but also a spot to watch your kids play or chat with passersby.
Front yards are another great way to add outdoor living in denser communities or alley-loaded homes. At Hummingbird Crossing Villas by Pulte Homes in Marysville, Wash., the challenge was offering outdoor living space within 1,944-square-foot home sites.
By embracing the front porch and giving them 6-foot depth, these charming homes offer a fresh take on the Farmhouse and Craftsman styles for buyers in the Pacific Northwest.
Another opportunity at the front of the home is a fenced front patio. At the Garden Collection by David Weekley Homes in Jacksonville, Fla., 16-foot-wide homes have front yards with enough space for a garden or to let the dog out in the morning.
Digging Decks
Decks have long been a solution for outdoor living in attached housing, and more recently for detached, too. They range from Juliet balconies to functional decks wide enough to gather or fire up a grill.
Highland Gardens by Legacy South in Nashville, Tenn., is a premium “City Living” community, the builder’s term for its urban locations. While these detached homes sit tightly at a net density of 9.4 per acre, they still offer outdoor living opportunities on multiple levels.
The decks are a highlight, spanning the full 20-foot width of each home and running deep enough to serve as legitimate outdoor areas, not just decoration.
Homes don’t have to be small to benefit from decks. For Creekside at Cartwright Ranch in Boise, Idaho, Brighton Homes’ Carriage Lane model features a terrace (the builder’s term) accessed by a hallway between the loft and the secondary bedrooms—and it delivers more square footage than the loft itself.
With a beverage center just inside, residents can start their morning with a cup of coffee or end their day with a glass of wine without having to go downstairs. Smart design enhances the functionality here.
The Shape of Things
Designers can also create outdoor space using the shape of the home or by detaching the garage in an alley-loaded layout—approaches that are definitely thinking outside the box.
While detached garages are common in other parts of the country, they are atypical in California. But by detaching the garage at Fresco at Del Sol in Ventura, Shea Homes and WHA created the opportunity for outdoor living between the home and the garage that’s especially valued in alley-loaded offerings where yards are small or excluded altogether.
Meanwhile, for the Spotlight Collection at Painted Prairie in Aurora, Colo., McStain Neighborhoods and DTJ Design used easements to optimize side yard space, then designated an “active” side with generous windows overlooking its side yard and a “passive” side with higher, fixed windows topreserve privacy between neighbors.
A side patio tucked into the footprint of the home adds another layer of outdoor living. And because it’s integrated into the architecture, it also masks the patio from the street for better privacy.
Outdoor living is highly valued, but it is getting harder to deliver as homes get smaller and sit closer together. But these projects are notable examples across home types that show how much is still possible with carefully considered design.
About the Author
Jenni Nichols
Jenni Nichols is VP of Design for the New Home Trends Institute at John Burns Research & Consulting. She scouts and analyzes the best housing collections and master planned communities from across the country to feature in the DesignLens database and serves as chair of NHTI’s Housing Design Trends council. Along with supporting clients with their design and trends inquiries, she also consults with developers and builders planning their communities and fine-tuning their home designs. Email her at jnichols@jbrec.com or visit newhometrendsinstitute.com.