22. Wabi Sabi Courtyard

An outside room created by trees & buildings.

When we bought this property, we inherited a haphazard collection of buildings. At first, my instinct was to want to rationalize the plan and change everything. With time, and with a more realistic budget, I have adopted a more Wabi Sabi approach.

Wabi Sabi according to Wikipedia:

The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of appreciating beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete" in nature.

This design approach involves accepting the existing conditions and making the smallest changes possible to get a desired result.

One area where this approach is proving fruitful is the area just outside our kitchen window. The existing wings of the house and dilapidated pool house frame the existing pool. The angles are awkward and there used to be a giant, raised deck that dominated the space. We can’t change the angles, but we did get rid of the deck. The deck is being replaced with a patio that is at grade. From the patio, the grade gently rolls down the hill to the pool and pool house. A future orangery, or greenhouse, creates another edge to our imperfect, incomplete courtyard.

Here is another look at the past and future. It is still going to take a million dollars* to achieve the dream, but by embracing the imperfections, it is making the dream possible.

*no idea what the actual cost will be, but no doubt it will be a lot.

My next step is to hurry with the patio project, spring is just around the corner.