Inspired by the near-perfect climate they enjoy, Southern Californians have pioneered the concept of outdoor living spaces. They’ve learned to maximize the pleasure to be had from their often small—and always expensive—lots by developing as much of the site as possible. “It’s a regional thing,” explains landscape architect David Reed. “We cover the site to the extent that we can.”

This Rancho Santa Fe custom home is a graceful case in point: House, hardscape, and landscape are woven together into a complete and luxurious environment.

A major requirement of the owners was that the site plan secure their privacy while wringing as much function as possible from the land surrounding the house. Reed’s plan is designed to give each interior room its outdoor counterpart and to shield indoor and outdoor living spaces from the street and neighboring houses.

With a rambling courtyard home, even a property as relatively large as this 1.1-acre site required the outdoor spaces to be “counted in inches” in order to best use the real estate, Reed explains. Working closely with the clients, Reed developed a plan that gives each function its due in terms of space and location.

The outdoor garden rooms are extensions of the living room, family room, and kitchen and like their indoor counterparts are sized to handle furnishings and gatherings of various sizes. Conveniently, the outdoor kitchen is tucked in next to the kitchen and the herb garden opposite. The family room opens to a covered section of the terrace that leads to the pool and spa. And a more formal terrace echoes the form and feeling of the formal living room.

More private areas also have their corresponding outdoor rooms. The master bath has its own private terrace and spa, and the home office opens to a little grove of lemon trees. The guest house provides visitors with their own private garden.

Reed used limestone—7,000 square feet of it—for hardscaping the private areas. The limestone decking blends seamlessly with the limestone pool coping, while porcelain tile made to match the limestone is used around the pool’s waterline. Expansion joints are worked into the pattern of the pavers so they are virtually invisible, as are the drains—designed as slots between the pavers, they appear to be nothing more than shadow lines. “The hardscape was speced to the hilt,” Reed says. Two limestone steps wrap the terraces, gracefully bridging the grade differential between the house and the garden with a minimum of earthwork.

The hardscape is softened with a palette of large and small subtropical plants, including citrus and jacaranda trees, placed for privacy, views, and to camouflage the 6-foot-high wall that runs down either side of the property. A layered row of plantings at the back buffer the site from the golf course easement and softly frame the view. From the house and from the terraces the grounds seem serene and complete, a perfect little private world.

Project Credits
Builder: Mueller Custom Homes, La Jolla, Calif.
Architect: David Singer, La Jolla
Landscape architect: David Reed Landscape Architects, San Diego
Pool builder: Pacific Sun Pools & Spas, San Diego
Tile and stone contractor: European Natural Stone Co., La Jolla
Interior designer: Richard Kaleh, West Hollywood, Calif.
Photographers: David Reed, Gerardo Bañuelos
Illustration: Rick Vitullo