Alez Allée!

He’s one of Boston’s most creative advertising minds. She’s a chef and food travel guide. They love to entertain, but Covid lockdown exposed the limitations of the lackluster backyard of their historic carriage house home. These two photos tell the whole story of the long skinny yard with a minimal entertaining area.

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Our client turned his yard over to us with few parameters. The goal was to create a seamless living space. The minute we saw the sightline from the French doors, we knew that a French allée was just the trick to create the illusion of a larger space. We designed four separate spaces to complete the look: the dining room, living room, firepit and lawn area. All tucked into this tiny backyard.

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We enlarged the terrace with oversized modern pavers. Flanked by oversized corten steel containers, a grassy area remains. Soon tall grasses in the containers will help to further divide the areas. Pops of color will come later when the catmint and coneflower mix come into season.


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Now there is plenty of room to start the evening by the water feature, enjoy a fabulous home cooked meal at the table and end the night by strolling down the allée to the firepit area. Night lighting below brings its own joy to the new landscape. 

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Thank you FF team for making a dream come true. Thank you Francis and your team of masons for always making it happen no matter what the obstacles.