The Lay Of The Land
It’s not uncommon for us to get a few email and comment questions about the way our house is situated on our lot. Many people can’t figure out where the patio leads or where our garage is located in relation to our house so we figured we should whip up a little exterior diagram for ya. We actually have almost an acre of land and an extremely deep woods behind our house for privacy, which we love (it’s actually one of the main reasons we bought our seen-better-days rancher). And we were also lucky enough to have inherited some great privacy hedges and fences that keep our yard feeling nice and secluded from our neighbors on either side. But on with the tour! Here’s our looooong and skinny lot (to scale):
You might not believe that this rendering could possibly be to scale (is your house really that small? is your lot really that long?) but we traced over a scaled blueprint of our property (found in our giant file of papers from the closing). Isn’t it funny how TINY our house is compared to the acreage that it’s on?! You’ll notice a few things right away. Poor John has a lot of grass to mow (love ya honey!), we have an extremely long driveway with room for a whole bunch of cars at the end, and we have more than enough trees and shrubs to feel like we live in the middle of the woods. You can also see how the sunroom stairs lead down to the patio, which leads out to the driveway, which is where we added our little herb & veggie garden (in one of the only full sun spots we had thanks to all the aforementioned foliage).
And because we get quite a few questions about where all of those sliding glass doors in our sunroom lead, we’ll clear that up once and for all…
Only one set of doors leads out to the back patio while the rest lead absolutely nowhere. Really, if you stepped out of them you’d fall about 5 feet into the edible garden or the bushes on the side of the house (see diagram above). But we love that they’re there for the view and the cross breeze that they provide when we slide ‘em open. The one that leads to a few brick steps that take you to the back patio is just out of frame to the right in this picture (see the corner of the doormat?):
And here’s a view of the patio from those stairs that lead down to that area:
But let’s rewind and start from the street. Here’s the house pretty much from the edge of the long driveway where it meets the street:
And if you walk up the driveway towards the house, here’s the side view:
Then as you enter the big part of the driveway in the back you’ll see where we had the tables set up for our backyard wedding:
Of course we’ve since painted the garage black, so on an ordinary day without 75 people back there it looks like this:
Here’s the view if you turn slightly to the right:
And here’s the scenery when you turn even more to the right and walk towards the gate (which leads to the patio). You’ll notice our little edible garden just outside the gate in front of the brick stairway that’s tucked away behind that lamp post. It leads down to the private entry basement (which is primed for a major makeover, stay tuned…)
Once you enter the back gate you’ll find yourself on the cobblestone path that leads to the patio. Here’s a shot looking back at the garage from inside the fence:
And here’s a shot looking up at the back of the house and the patio from that cobblestone path by the gate:
Of course we can’t forget the view of that crazy deep woods behind our backyard. We love that we have a nice sized grassy area for Burger/future babies along with the privacy and seclusion that the deeply wooded area offers.
Lot, we love you.
Can’t you see why it was the lot and not the house that stole our hearts and wooed us into making an offer? All that privacy and green was just so seductive after many years in the concrete jungle that is Manhattan.
So there you have it. A tour of our home’s exterior. What about you guys. Do you have any unusual features? A long skinny property? A detatched garage? A separate entry basement? A chicken coup? (We actually inherited one behind the garage!) Do tell.
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Comments
OOOOhh… you totally got me on the unfinished basement spot primed for a makeover. Hmmm? Rec room, gardening room, in-law quarters, home gym, studio/printing room for your biz or a playroom for Burger? I’m staying tuned.
I had chickens growing up. Yes, we did eat their eggs (and eventually them also) but they ARE dirrrrty and stanky. And you have to walk through all that to gather eggs.
Letty- The story about the drawing is that we both made it together. Romantic, eh? Or dorky. You decide. John traced the to-scale property sketch from our closing file and added things like the driveway and the patio which weren’t in it (he’s much better at scale and layout than I am). Then I traced all of his pencil marks with a pen, added some bushes and trees, scanned it into the computer, and brought in some color (and the typed labels) in Photoshop. Glad to hear that the group effort fried your bacon!
Jbhat- We don’t have a photo of the hammock around (maybe we’ll get one up soon?) but here’s an old post with the fire pit that we moved up to the patio when it used to be in the back woods. We created those awesome wood benches with tree stumps covered in planks of wood that we stained, which are still there but no longer surround the fire pit.
Blair- You know, our land is super super mosquito-riddled (since it’s so shady and there’s a huge forest behind our house) but we have noticed that we’ve both gotten fewer bites thus far. Maybe it’s the fact that we’re so busy with the blog that we’re indoors more now (haha), or maybe it’s those awesome My Mosquito Deleter things we set up around our house’s perimeter. We definitely still see them flying around and suffer the occasional bite but it’s been noticeably better so far!
Joyce- We go back and forth about expanding since we’d love to have a bedroom in the back of the house with our own attached bathroom (we definitely have the room for it). The thing about our house is that we like it small (I spend enough time cleaning the two bedrooms we don’t use, so we certainly don’t need more anytime soon) but maybe once our family grows we’ll take the plunge and add a small addition. Time will tell!
xo,
s
Ohhh…I’m green with envy over all the green. We relocated three years ago from the midwest to the dry and hot high desert. I’ve got 2 acres with mountain views, but I do so miss the green. I love your grass and plants! We’ve attempted grass (bermuda…only to find out my son is allergic to it). I’ve attempted plants and the bunnies here think they’re a treat. At least I’ve got juniper trees (just found out my son’s allergic to those too). Thanks for the lovely green and colorful eye candy! Do you have any critters you have to deal with on your property? How do you keep your lawn looking so lush? It’s so lovely!
Sherry-
Per your conversation about supporting local farmers vs. raising your own chickens, I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend the book “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” by Barbara Kingsolver. The author (yes same lady who wrote Poisonwood Bible, Bean Trees, ect) decided to feed her family of four for a year only on food grown and raised by themselves, or their local neighbors. It’s a great read, has excellent lessons and will surely give you more to think about as they raise both chickens and roosters. Anyway, I certainly can’t do that hear in Washington, D.C. but it was an excellent read for anyone interested in local food issues!
This is seriously fun! I knew I liked floorplans, but plot plans? Never thought about it. Thanks for sharing.
I had no idea you guys had that much land — how completely awesome! Here in TX, the lots are generally small (which I find odd since we have SO much land).
Hey Chrissy,
We have lots of critters on our property since we’re so close to the woods but they’re all sweet and never a nuisance. My favorite sightings are tiny chipmunks but we’ve seen everything from bunnies and squirrels to racoons and deer- but they never mess with our plantings or our recycling bins when they’re out (and for that we’re eternally grateful). Even having two compost bins doesn’t seem to attract any trouble, which is great! Here’s hoping your bunnies lay off your landscaping!
Oh and as for how we keep the grass so green, we overseed it (add a bit of seed right over the grass) every fall so the autumn rain helps to naturally establish it for a lush lawn for the entire year. Hope it helps! Maybe we’ll do a post about it this fall when we do it…
xo,
s
Love your property, love your house! I am new to your blog and find it TRULY TRULY inspirational!
Our property is long and skinny too, except it is about 0.26 acre (gotta love NJ). I am constantly trying to come up with ideas to expand our outdoor entertaining space. Right now we only have a tiny deck off our kitchen that holds a tiny bistro table and two folding chairs. The problem is that our garage doors face the back of our property, and (attached) garage itself is tucked underneath the house at basement level. So if you can imagine, our driveway slopes down toward the back and you are supposed to do a hairpin U-turn in order to make it into our “2 car garage” that is simply not sized for today’s SUVs (maybe if we owned 2 Mini Coopers we could park in there). Needless to say, we park in the driveway. The driveway also cuts off the house from the yard, where we have a combination of lovely stone walls bordering the lawn and ugly wood retaining walls bordering the driveway. Yuck! And our thin side yard (opposite the driveway side) does not provide for enough room or privacy to add a patio there. The only plan I can come up with (while keeping the access to the garage for resale) is installing a small paver patio in the lawn (we would also replace the wood retaining walls in a matching material). But do you think it would be weird to have an entertaining space that doesn’t have direct access to the house? Plus, how do we do this economically? Landscaping services in our area (northern NJ) are SOOOOO expensive.
Thanks for sharing the diagram. We know the inside of your house so well – it is nice to see what’s doin’ in your yard.
We don’t have that much land here in PA, but we do have a big red barn in our backyard. Our neighborhood was built on an old dairy farm. The original farmhouse and barn are still standing, and just happen to be in our backyard. I like to pretend it is our barn, but alas…
Hey Bev,
Yeah it sounds like it could get expensive! But if you really think you’ll use it and it will increase the value of your home, a little patio might make sense. I’d do a bit of research and get bids from local landscapers and patio companies to see what kind of numbers they’re tossing around and go from there. But I definitely think that a smaller patio on part of the lawn creates a little oasis for relaxing and enjoying the spring, summer & fall. Just really know yourself before you get into it (ex: if you have a huge mosquito problem and never spend time outside it could be a bad idea in hindsight). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Wow! You guys really do have a huge lot for the city. I had to laugh when you talked about finding a chicken coop on your lot, because our little cottage used to be a chicken coop back when the family farm was an actual farm. My parents turned it into a house when they were first married, before they saved enough to build their true dream house. Now my husband and I are living in “the roost” while we save to build our own dream house on the family land. Most people think I named my blog little red roost to be cute, but our house really was once a roost!
I love your house especially the sunroom with walls of glass. May I ask how big is the sunroom as I’d love to convert my deck into that. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing this! I have a question I’m hoping you can answer. My boyfriend and I live in a house with a great, big, flat backyard. Nice, but BORING. We would love to have 1) way less grass to mow and 2) more interest like borders, a big patio, bushes, trees etc. How do we start this overwhelming project? We know it’s going to cost money and we would like to spread the cost out (do a lot ourselves). But we feel like we need at least a design to go off of first. Do we go to a landscaper and have them draw up plans – do they do plans even if your not going to use their labor? Is there a place online where you can sketch out your backyard? I would love your ideas. Thanks in advance! Melanie
Hey Alicia,
At 13 x 20′ our sunroom is one of the biggest rooms in the house- although it’s arguably outside! Hope it helps.
xo,
s
Hey Melanie,
Lots of landscape designers who work for local landscaping companies are happy to come out to your house for a consultation and to draw up a plan for a nominal fee (around $100) and you get to keep the plan! That sounds like the perfect solution since you can get lots of ideas (even planting ideas, sizes for the beds, location suggestions etc) and then you can DIY as many as possible over time. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Wow. I am in love with your property. I probably wouldn’t be up to all the maintenance, but I am SO jealous of your garden. Our dog (Jack Russell Terrier) would tear up the veggie beds in 1 minute! We actually donate $$ to one of our friends who keeps a garden in his backyard for the fruits of his labor. It works out SO much better.
Thanks for sharing these great pictures! I love your house, and your yard, and your blog! I discovered your blog a couple of weeks ago and have been coming back pretty much every day since (sometimes more than once!). I am truly inspired by your beautiful house. My boyfriend and I have just bought our first house and plan to do some renovations, and you’ve even inspired me to start a blog of my own (http://ournewnest.wordpress.com/) to track our progress…
I know your site will be a huge help to us as we tackle the changes we’re planning to make. I’m also jealous of your yard – we love the yard at our new house – it was a major selling point for us as well – but our yard is much much smaller than yours. Any tips on making the most of a small outdoor space? We have a really small patio area, and a small octagonal deck with some benches around the outside…the deck is not attached to the house, it sort of stands alone at the side of the yard. I’m thinking of adding a path from the patio to the deck, but any ideas would be appreciated! Thanks!
My uncle keeps about 15 chickens in his 2 acre backyard and calls them his ladies—they’re so pretty! Granted, they’re not cuddly per se, but they are not characteristically mean. He has chickens from Asia (they’re beautifully plumed and smaller than the bigboobied hens you think of that are used for their meat. The eggs are green or brown, and just so amazingly delicious I can’t stand it! (also better for you, apparently–lower cholesterol and such…but frankly I wouldn’t even care because the taste is just so much better!)
(also–so glad you compost! thumbs waaay up!)
Great diagram! Wondering where the lounge chairs came from. I have been hunting around for something similar! :)
Katherine,
We love the idea of a little path (either square stepping stone pavers or pea gravel) to connect things and create some flow. Definitely go for it. Another way to add color and interest to a small yard is bringing in planters with some foliage or flowers to create a bit of 3D lushness in dark corners and keep the eye moving around so it feels less “flat.” Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Hey Amy,
They’re actually from Walmart of all places! Here’s the post all about our patio makeover:
http://www.younghouselove.com/2009/05/our-cheap-o-patio-makeover/
Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Ohhh great pictures of your house. The most beautiful place that I like is your home garden. Really it is awesome.
I am so happy I found your space here on the internet. I am in the process of purchasing my first home. If all works out a sweet yellow ranch with 3 bedrooms, a fireplace, and screened-in porch out back, will be ours. So far all looks good with it except the extremely outdated decor! Many projects await us and your blog has inspired me to tackle them head on!
I love your blog…so inspiring! Two years ago, we bought a cute 1 1/2 storey house built in the late 40’s on a lot and a half. Even though it`s in a small city (and I dream of a house in the forest), I appreciate this gift of a house every day! I thought it funny you mentioned the chicken coop because we have one as well! We swept out the cobwebs and knocked open the tiny back door and my kids love it. This house has great bones but seriously needs some reno work done on it. And on a budget!!! I have kept every Domino mag that was published and was so sad that it stopped. Thanks for this gem of a resource!
Hi Guys …. I’ve written before (asked a question about hanging bamboo blinds in my kitchen that you helped me with!!). Now …. I’ve been perusing through your site to try to find out your exterior house colors. ? I’m sure they are on the site somewhere, but I’m kinda slow. We (family of 4) live in Mobile, AL, and have a 1950’s brick/ranch home. We are looking for trim ideas …?
Many Many Thanks, MM
Hey Mary,
Well, the exterior of our house is natural red brick, but out tan colored trim is Lyndhurst Tan by Valspar and our front door is Fabulous Red by Valspar. Oh and our shutters and garage door are Dark Secret (which is a black color by Glidden). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
I loved the drawing! Did you guys make it? Seriously adorable. I think it’s even cute enough to frame :) Thanks for sharing!