SLC Backyard Gets a Facelift with Custom Pergolas and Landscaping

In Salt Lake City, a team of pros transforms a cramped 1942 cottage into an oasis of open spaces, lush gardens and fresh, contemporary style. Take a look at the details of the garden’s luxe lift. Photos by Lindsay Salazar, Styled by Noelle Wright.

Daring black paint, new windows and vertically oriented Boral TruExterior give the exterior of this newly refurbished home a decidedly modern vibe. A new landscape created by designer Rob McFarland adds deep gardens and layers of lush greenery to the wide, narrow property. McFarland also introduced new fencing, screening hedges and a pair of custom pergolas that shade a freshly conceived outdoor living area located off the end of the cottage. “The house felt like it abruptly ended with a shallow side yard, but the pergolas graciously extend the line of the house and create such a great space for Courtney,” he explains. [Homeowner Courtney Little] agrees and is delighted with the entire project, inside and out. “I love this home and am so proud of what it has become.”  

TAKE IT OUTSIDE 

1. Landscape Designer Rob McFarland planted a hornbeam hedge to screen the outdoor living area and to connect the side yard’s new wood fence with the home. “As a living fence, the hedge doesn’t compete with the architecture,” he explains. 

2. McFarland’s double pergolas help to visually delineate the large patio’s dining and lounge areas. “A breath of space” separates the two structures, adding to their compelling dimensions, he explains.

3. While purlins, or top shading beams, traditionally extend out beyond the edge of a pergola’s frame, McFarland ended those of the double pergolas to create a modernized style. He then wrapped them back in to create the structures’ custom design. “They embrace the size of the pergolas and contemporize the look,” he says.  A new fence and hornbeam hedge enclose the private oasis. 

4. Layers of textural plantings fill a garden bed connecting the front of the house to the corner of the property and the side yard’s living area.

5. French doors open from the home’s sitting room to the outdoor living space.

See the full home transformation in our feature here.