Barrera Backyard Retreat

The Barrera backyard had a grade problem. The ground fell roughly three feet from the house to the fence line, which left a usable strip near the back door and a slope nobody went near.

Rather than fight the fall, we used it. Retaining walls hold the grade in two deliberate steps, so the yard reads as two connected rooms instead of one awkward slope: an upper covered patio off the house, and a lower level with room for the hot tub and a lounge.

Bullnose stairs and an aluminium railing tie the levels together, planters along the boundary do the privacy work without a taller fence, and a run of turf down the side yard keeps the route to the gate clean in winter. The covered upper patio is the part that gets used in February.