Collection
Home Designs
Front yards, backyards, side boundaries and complete house concepts, including the tiny home series. 448 large format widescreen concepts — open any one for the full size visual and design notes.
Alfresco
Alfresco
Alfresco
Alfresco
Alfresco
B1 Forward
B1 Left
B1 Rear
B1 Right
B1 Top
B2 Forward
B2 Left
B2 Rear
B2 Right
B2 Top
B3 Forward
B3 Left
B3 Rear
B3 Right
B3 Top
B4 Forward
B4 Left
B4 Rear
B4 Right
B4 Top
Back Cook
Back Forward
Back Gather
Back Left
Back Rear
Back Right
Back Swim
Back Top
Backyard
Build
Cascading
Cascading
Cascading
Cascading
Cascading
Circular
Circular
Circular
Circular
Circular
Coastal
Coastal
Coastal
Coastal
Coastal
Compact
Compact
Compact
Compact
Compact
Deck
Deck
Deck
Deck
Deck
Desert
Desert
Desert
Desert
Desert
Dream 01
Dream 02
Dream 03
Dream 04
Dream 05
Dream 06
Driveway
Driveway
Driveway
Driveway
Driveway
Evening
Evening
Evening
Evening
Evening
F1 Forward
F1 Left
F1 Rear
F1 Right
F1 Top
F2 Forward
F2 Left
F2 Rear
F2 Right
F2 Top
F3 Forward
F3 Left
F3 Rear
F3 Right
F3 Top
F4 Forward
F4 Left
F4 Rear
F4 Right
F4 Top
F5 Forward
F5 Left
F5 Rear
F5 Right
F5 Top
Family
Family
Family
Family
Family
Finished
Finished Evening
Formal
Formal
Formal
Formal
Formal
Front Arrival
Front Forward
Front Left
Front Privacy
Front Rear
Front Right
Front Top
Front Water
Futuristic 01
Futuristic 02
Futuristic 03
Futuristic 04
Futuristic 05
Futuristic 06
Futuristic Backyard Concept 01
Futuristic Backyard Concept 02
Futuristic Backyard Concept 03
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Futuristic Backyard Concept 05
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Futuristic Front Yard Concept 01
Futuristic Front Yard Concept 02
Futuristic Front Yard Concept 03
Futuristic Front Yard Concept 04
Futuristic Front Yard Concept 05
Futuristic Front Yard Concept 06
Futuristic Front Yard Concept 07
Futuristic Front Yard Concept 08
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Hardscape
Heritage
Heritage
Heritage
Heritage
Heritage
Hero
Japanese 01
Japanese 02
Japanese 03
Japanese 04
Japanese 05
Japanese 06
Kids
Kids
Kids
Kids
Kids
Mediterranean
Mediterranean
Mediterranean
Mediterranean
Mediterranean
Narrow
Narrow
Narrow
Narrow
Narrow
Native
Native
Native
Native
Native
Outdoor
Outdoor
Outdoor
Outdoor
Outdoor
Pilot
Pilot
Pilot
Pilot
Pilot
Pilot
Pilot
Pilot
Prairie
Prairie
Prairie
Prairie
Prairie
Privacy
Privacy
Privacy
Privacy
Privacy
Proportions Plan
Rustic 01
Rustic 02
Rustic 03
Rustic 04
Rustic 05
Rustic 06
Sloping
Sloping
Sloping
Sloping
Sloping
Spa
Spa
Spa
Spa
Spa
Staging
Th 01
Th 02
Th 03
Th 04
Th 05
Th 06
Th 07
Th 08
Th 09
Th 10
Th 11
Th 12
Th 13
Th 14
Th 15
Th 16
Th 17
Th 18
Th 19
Th 20
Th2 01
Th2 02
Th2 03
Th2 04
Th2 05
Th2 06
Th2 07
Th2 08
Th2 09
Th2 10
Th2 11
Th2 12
Th2 13
Th2 14
Th2 15
Th2 16
Th2 17
Th2 18
Th2 19
Th2 20
Th3 01
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Th3 03
Th3 04
Th3 05
Th3 06
Th3 07
Th3 08
Th3 09
Th3 10
Th3 11
Th3 12
Th3 13
Th3 14
Th3 15
Th3 16
Th3 17
Th3 18
Th3 19
Th3 20
Th4 01
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Th4 03
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Th4 05
Th4 06
Th4 07
Th4 08
Th4 09
Th4 10
Th4 11
Th4 12
Th4 13
Th4 14
Th4 15
Th4 16
Th4 17
Th4 18
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Th4 20
Th5 01
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Th5 03
Th5 04
Th5 05
Th5 06
Th5 07
Th5 08
Th5 09
Th5 10
Th5 11
Th5 12
Th5 13
Th5 14
Th5 15
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Th5 19
Th5 20
Tiny
Tropical
Tropical
Tropical
Tropical
Tropical
Tropical
Tropical
Tropical
Tropical
Tropical
Visionary Custom Concept 01
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Zen
Zen
Zen
Zen
Zen
Zero
Zero
Zero
Zero
Zero
Zoning Plan
Full feature article · Japanese Design
Japanese Garden Ideas and Concepts for Modern Japanese Style Homes
Raked gravel courtyards, moss and sculpted trees, koi ponds and stone basins, bamboo screened paths, timber engawa verandahs and onsen style plunge pools.
The Japanese garden is the most disciplined garden tradition in the world, and the quietest. Nothing is included that does not carry meaning or serve the composition: a few carefully chosen stones, one sculpted tree, moss, gravel, water and a path. For small modern courtyards it is also the most useful tradition available, because it was developed for exactly those dimensions.
Composition begins with stone. Rocks are placed as groups of three or five, set deep enough into the ground to look as though they were always there, with their best face turned toward the main viewing position. That viewing position — usually a window or a verandah, not a place you stand — is chosen first, and the whole garden is arranged for it in the way a painting is arranged for a frame.
Gravel and moss carry the empty space that makes the rest work. Raked gravel represents water and gives the eye somewhere to rest; moss softens the ground and links the stones. Both demand maintenance, and both can be adapted: fine crushed granite instead of traditional gravel, and a hardy groundcover instead of moss in climates where moss will not survive.
Planting is deliberately limited and heavily edited. Japanese maple for autumn colour, pine or a sculpted evergreen for structure, bamboo for screening and sound, azalea clipped into soft mounds, and ferns in the shade. The important skill is pruning: these gardens are made as much by what is removed each year as by what was planted at the start.
Water appears as a still pond, a narrow rill, or simply a stone basin with a bamboo spout. A koi pond needs real filtration, depth and shade to work, so in a small courtyard the basin is usually the better choice — it delivers the sound and the reflection with none of the maintenance. Stepping stones across gravel or water slow the walk down, which is the intended effect.
The architecture completes the garden. A timber engawa verandah running along the glazed wall makes the garden part of the interior, sliding screens frame it in changing proportions, and an onsen style plunge pool under cover turns the composition into somewhere you sit for an hour rather than glance at. Light it very softly — a shielded uplight on the tree, a low glow along the path, nothing more — and the courtyard becomes the calmest room of the house after dark.