Jason Brownlee & Jimi Smith Photography
When interior designer Shelli Reeder Knoch took on the labor of love that was renovating the older Brentwood home she shares with husband John, she had her work cut out for her.
The space was filled with dark-stained timber accents extending all the way out into the deck, retaining walls, fence, and pool. She wanted to give the dark, dank space a clean, open, and contemporary makeover and for the exterior part of the project she turned to landscape architect and registered watershape designer Jason Brownlee. As founder, president, and lead designer at J. Brownlee Design, he knew exactly how to turn the uninviting space into an outdoor oasis that felt open, airy, and perfect for entertaining.
Jason Brownlee & Jimi Smith Photography
“We began by opening up the dark and imposing features and removing all wooden structures and veneers,” he says. “A new main level screen patio replaced the wooden deck and created a covered outdoor living room, pool bathroom, and storage room beneath the spacious structure.”
Brownlee designed a geometric-style swimming pool, spa, and fountain feature as key feature elements, and surrounded them with multi-terraced patios that work with the sloping grades of the property. To make the space even more inviting, he added a new linear firepit relaxation patio and custom “stepper” walkways between integrated turf-grass softscape “to create rhythm and movement.”
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The existing vertical wooden fence and walls were replaced with painted brick masonry structures with iron fence sections across the back to take advantage of the stunning views surrounding the space, and he utilized horizontal Ipe wooden slat sections against the neighboring properties to provide needed privacy to the backyard.
The final product is a stunning resort-style space that the family can use every day—a huge change from the previous, seemingly unusable space.
“Sometimes a design will completely transform a backyard into a true residential luxury backyard resort experience,” says Brownlee. “This project design is an example of the drastic difference that a design can make to the quality of living experience of a typical suburban home, and how good design is applicable to projects of all scales and budgets.”
J. Brownlee Design, 436 Main St., #202, Franklin, 615-739-7100; jbrownleedesign.com, Construction Company: Natural Stone Hardscape