Timber-Framed Covered Patio with Blue Shutters

Design notes

French country design pairs formal bones with soft edges. Look for limestone walls and terraces, pea gravel courtyards, an axis or allée of pleached limes or plane trees, and clipped box giving structure to lavender, roses, rosemary and iris. Shutters, wrought-iron furniture, zinc planters and a long table under a tree complete it. Worn surfaces are the point — nothing should look new.

What to look for

• The paving material and how its joints are handled
• Whether the furniture footprint fits with room to move
• Shade at 4 pm, not just at noon