Urban sanctuary framed by Western Red Cedar

Location: San Francisco, California
Architect: Terremoto.LA
Photo: Bruce Damonte

Take a slender, rectangular urban backyard and turn it into a multifaceted outdoor living space that flows seamlessly from the interior to the exterior. Innovative landscape design firm Terremoto.LA rose to the challenge beautifully with its Randall project in San Francisco.

The outdoor design features a Western Red Cedar deck that aligns flush with the kitchen area and flows to the backyard space, which includes a cedar built-in barbecue and benches.

A cedar boardwalk leads to terraced garden beds and ends in an informal gathering area with a fire pit, olive tree and ambient string lights. The surrounding fencing, that acts as a frame for the smartly conceived backyard, is also knotty Western Red Cedar.

Natural, enduring beauty

Terremoto’s Randall clients were a family of four with two preteen daughters. They love cooking and entertaining, and also wanted an area to dine al fresco, along with space for the girls to roam with their friends. One important element for them was to have a garden to share in the harvesting of edible foods.

The decision to use knotty Western Red Cedar was a natural one for the team at Terremoto.

“We, as the designers, really pushed them to use natural wood and let it age without any stains or sealants. They, and we, wanted something that would be low maintenance,” says Terremoto co-owner Alain Peauroi.

Knotty Cedar fit the budget

Along with loving the look of the silvery patina that occurs naturally over time when left untreated, knotty cedar worked with the client’s budget, Peauroi explained.

The end result: an exceptional landscape design beautifully enhanced with the use of Real Cedar.

“It has been almost two years since we completed the garden, and the wood has only gotten more beautiful with age – the warmth of the wood is incredible,” Peauroi says.