Mountain Retreat

Sonora persuades Chris to come see her backyard in her brand new house -- a big empty space with one huge redwood tree in the middle. Using that for inspiration, Chris comes up with a mountain retreat design that starts with covering up her existing concrete pad with natural stone and building a wood privacy screen to block out her neighbor's huge RV. He adds a large ledgestone water feature as well as a big wooden deck topped with a custom-made dining table. He uses boulders to define a fire pit area and adds large redwood trees, cedars and ferns. Finally, he turns a ski lift chair into a comfy swing and surrounds it with lush landscaping.