Outdoor living in Bellaire

Bellaire earned its "City of Homes" name honestly. The lots here are established, the live oaks and pecans are decades old, and a lot of the backyards we work in already have a canopy worth designing around instead of fighting. That shade is an asset, but it also means we plan grades and drainage carefully so a new patio sits right against mature roots and the water still has somewhere to go.

Because so many Bellaire homes are being reworked rather than newly built, our job is usually to make a new outdoor space feel like it always belonged. We match materials and proportions to the house that's already there, keep sightlines from the kitchen and the back rooms in mind, and let the trees stay the centerpiece.

The families we build for here tend to want a space that carries the whole year, somewhere to have people over on a fall evening and somewhere the kids actually use on a regular Tuesday. That's the kind of everyday, tree-shaded backyard Bellaire is built for.