Lakefront Residence
Lake Sammamish
Contemporary. Formal. Spacious.

The challenge: A long, narrow lot surrounding new construction of a residential home featured a front yard that sloped toward the street and a back yard that sloped toward the house, creating drainage problems. The master bedroom, meanwhile, sat only 25 feet from the street. Moreover, the planned concrete planters presented an aesthetic challenge. The owners had a small child and wanted a children's play area as well as a low-maintenance yard that was contemporary and elegant to match the architecture of the home.

The Johnson Associates solution: We created a visual and noise barrier by raising the front yard with a retaining wall of manufactured block, which served to set the house back from the street and also increased the available square footage. A new French drain in the backyard diverted water away from the house. We installed electrical wiring and plumbing (to accommodate future irrigation needs) during construction of the entryway concrete planters. Additional conduit was laid beneath the driveway before the concrete was poured to accommodate future lighting.

Meanwhile, we added a children's play area to the rear of the back yard that was easily viewable from the second story deck. To provide privacy, we constructed an estate-style fence around three sides of the property, leaving the front yard unfenced to maximize the view of the lake.

For the softscape, we added virgin soil to amend the native soil and created garden beds with low-maintenance plant material that encircled the perimeter of the front and back yards. Premium grade sod lawn provided for a soft carpet of green and completed the creation of the Outdoor Rooms.