Despite an earlier update to his 1923 home in South Pasadena, CA, Joe Davis's backyard still wasn't hitting a home run. "It was just kind of an afterthought for us," says the FOX Sports and LA Dodgers sportscaster.
"We had a nice deck, but it felt fenced in." Adds his wife, Libby: "We didn't even want to be out there." With two young kids-and another on the way the family longed for a more free-flowing alfresco experience.
So they turned to System Pavers, a local design-build hardscape company, for a patio revamp that would add an outdoor kitchen. They also enlisted contractor Abe Nabbout to open up the deck with wide steps for a better connection to the backyard and to add a second pergola over new dining and cooking areas.
Figuring out how the two overhead structures would mesh was particularly tricky. "You couldn't drop the pergola roof too much, or it would obstruct the view from the kitchen-and you would have to duck coming down the side steps to the patio," says Janine McCormack, a landscape architect with System Pavers. Arriving at an outdoor kitchen layout was equally challenging, says Joe, who used tape and lawn furniture to get a feel for the plan before signing off.
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