Ever since I bought the house in St. Paul in 2003, it’s had a back porch – I like to call it a stoop – with a sinking west end and a set of 3 steps that was falling away from the main platform.

That’s really all I wanted fixed. We’d managed to keep people & clumsy puppies from falling into the crack, but it was an eyesore in the driveway view, and would be a problem if and when we decide to sell the house:

After a few chats with less than imaginative deck contractors, and a little bit of experimentation with an online porch designing tool, we started imagining a different shape and solution.

I had been thinking about cool backyard spaces we had spent time in. Like this one at Mom’s beach home:

And so sprouted the desire for:

• An easier (AKA no need for leashes) connection to the fenced area for the dogs
• A tidying up of unruly entry and general border to the rain garden, installed 15 years ago
• A friendly but effective privacy barrier: our back porch is in full view of the neighbors’ (read: young family with 2 wonderful but active small children in our shared driveway a LOT of the time) back porch where they spend a LOT of time in the summer
• I really enjoyed practicing yoga on mom’s back deck, back in 2020! I wanted a space big enough for a mat and sometimes, a Zoom setup. Maybe I broadcast my class from our little oasis-to-be?
• Over the last 3 years of pandemic and being in the house ALL THE TIME, the idea of some yard time appealed immensely, and so we were game for a patio
• A place we want to spend time in, perhaps with the dogs contained and within sight, in the nearby fenced area

And so we stopped talking to builders, and got a referral for a landscaping design + build firm, Landscape Love. They took our list, took a tour of the yard, added an demonstrated need for outdoor bike lockup, and came back with a design:

I’m still a little woozy over how our Norway Maple rendered! But seriously… it looked a little freakishly modern, in this simplified view of the back of our Craftsman bungalow, but I hadn’t come up with anything as interesting on my own. We decided to go for it.

And so several months later, while we were still enjoying a warmer April in New Mexico, the project began, with the demolition of the old stoop:

Next up, some paver and rock placement, including the new swale for our existing rain garden mouth/source.

Next up was prime spectator action, which we experienced upon our return: 4 days of digging out 6 feet of old concrete, to set new deck footings. Every day, we were convinced they’d dig up Al Capone or at least an interesting vault. We were met with disappointment on the juicy story front, but satisfaction on the stable deck prospects front:

Next up was several days of watching craftsmanship at work as Joe and Val framed up the deck.

Memorial Day arrived. They put in some temporary decking so the dogs and I could finally use the back door again, for the long weekend:

Roof was next!

And then, installed in just one day by what seemed like an army in our backyard: TONS of plants to water.

We had to water daily, at first, then every other day. Now we check the soil moisture… watering every few days.

The design included:

• Yews along the driveway
• A Silver Whisper Pine tree, pachysandra and Engleman ivy that will crawl up the privacy screen
• Hydrangea around the patio
• Geranium, pachysandra, Solomon’s Seal and hosta underneath the maple

And then: drama! Nifty new and bright overhead lights.

Custom iron work: the privacy screen, bike rack, and dog gate. Painting, gutters and patching up the house hole, too. We are digging the industrial vibe here! It’s weird how Craftsman can be kind of .. choking, restrictive sometimes.

And, finally: closing up the fence opening where the old gate was. The dog run works! I tested it today at 5:50am and again just at sunset:

The build is done! Now we need to find some great patio furniture, maybe a few comfy seats and a sort of bar/utility table for the top deck level. Someplace to set groceries as we open the door, maybe do plant potting. Possibly, the grill will go there.

Want to help us? Here’s our Pinterest board with some ideas for the effort.