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No. 79 Backyards · Colonial

Sunken Stone Fire Pit and Curved Seating

Behind a colonial brick home with black shutters, a curved brick path connects clipped boxwood hedges to a sunken stone fire pit featuring built-in bench seating and bluestone paving.

Design notes

Colonial design is symmetry and restraint. Look for a central axis from the back door, matched beds and hedges either side, bluestone or brick terraces with tight joints, and white or black picket and post-and-rail fences. Planting is disciplined — boxwood, hydrangea, holly, dogwood and shade trees — and furniture is classic: teak benches, Windsor chairs, a market umbrella. Georgian brick, clapboard and shingle houses all suit it.

What to look for

  • How the space is zoned — dining, lounging, lawn, planting
  • Sightlines from the back door to the furthest feature
  • Layers of privacy: canopy, screening, structure
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