featured property Wellesley Backyard Escape

A thoughtfully layered Wellesley landscape that turns a steep suburban yard into a four-season outdoor retreat. Regraded and carefully terraced, the property brings together a custom pool, screened porch, outdoor kitchen, fire feature, and layered planting into a landscape designed for gathering, relaxation, and everyday living.

a backyard reimagined for daily life

Wellesley, MA | Set in Wellesley, this featured property began with a practical goal: make the backyard easier to use. What emerged was something far more complete. The homeowners wanted a landscape that could support the pace of family life while offering a sense of calm, privacy, and connection close to home.

Our team reworked the sloped site into a welcoming sequence of outdoor spaces that feel intuitive, comfortable, and fully integrated with the house. The result is a landscape designed not for occasional use, but for everyday living in every season across one of Greater Boston’s most desirable residential communities.

A natural stone fire feature anchors this lower terrace, where hydrangeas, layered perennials, and masonry walls shape a comfortable gathering space, copyright: Michael J Lee

A screened porch frames the pool terrace beyond, creating a comfortable outdoor dining space with strong visual connection to the surrounding garden and woodland edge, copyright: Michael J Lee

four-season outdoor living in Wellesley

At the heart of the property is a custom pool terrace paired with a screened porch addition, covered circulation, an outdoor kitchen, and a natural stone fire feature. Each element was planned to work together, creating a seamless relationship between indoor and outdoor space.

Large openings from the home improve flow for entertaining, while radiant heat, retractable screens, and snow-melt systems help extend comfort well beyond summer. In a New England climate, details like these make a meaningful difference. The landscape feels equally suited to a quiet family evening, a relaxed weekend afternoon, or a larger gathering with friends.

built for beauty, function, and long-term stewardship

One of the defining challenges of this Wellesley property was the grade change that had made the backyard feel disconnected, underused, and difficult to navigate. Before the project, the rear yard lacked clear grading and spatial definition, leaving it without the structure, circulation, or comfort needed for everyday use.

Through careful regrading, terraced construction, and coordinated architectural and landscape planning, we transformed the site into a series of linked outdoor rooms with clear circulation and strong visual cohesion. Working closely with New England Design & Construction, the project also respects the character of the home, extending its architectural language into the landscape with a sense of permanence and ease. Broad stone terraces, a custom pool, a screened porch with retractable screens, an outdoor kitchen, and a fire feature now give the family distinct places to gather, relax, entertain, and spend time outdoors in more seasons of the year. The result is a landscape that feels not only beautiful, but intuitively organized and genuinely useful from one space to the next.

In the completed property, the backyard now reads as a fully realized outdoor environment, with each space positioned to support how the family lives and gathers. Layered planting beds soften the masonry, frame views, and deliver seasonal interest throughout the year. Hydrangeas, flowering shrubs, evergreen structure, and long-lasting perennials bring texture and rhythm while supporting a refined, low-maintenance landscape experience. Just as important for a busy household, the materials and layout were selected to balance visual impact with durability, comfort, and ease of use over time.

As the ongoing stewards of the property, we continue to care for the gardens so the landscape matures beautifully over time. The result is a true outdoor retreat in Wellesley: elegant, functional, and designed for the way this family wants to spend time at home.

see the transformation

transformations - before - wellesley backyard escape

transformations - after - wellesley backyard escape

project details

Location: Wellesley, MA (02482)
Features: custom pool, patio, outdoor kitchen, fire feature, terraced stonework
Project Type: four-season outdoor living
Services: landscape design, construction, seasonal planting, maintenance
Landscape Design: a Blade of Grass
Builder: New England Design & Construction

award-winning design

PRISM Silver Award | 2025

Best Design for Outdoor Living

tour this property in Wellesley, MA

Terraced stone garden walls and layered foundation planting reinforce the home’s architecture while softening the transition into the landscape, copyright: Michael J Lee

This gravel fire pit terrace is softened by hydrangeas and layered planting, offering a relaxed gathering space set slightly apart from the pool, copyright: Michael J Lee

A built-in outdoor kitchen overlooks the pool and garden, integrating cooking, circulation, and landscape views into a single outdoor living zone, copyright: Michael J Lee

designed for daily use

Terraced stone walls, broad steps, and defined garden transitions organize the backyard into a series of usable outdoor rooms. The covered porch extends comfort close to the house, the fire feature creates a destination for gathering and quiet evenings, and the built-in outdoor kitchen adds function at the center of the entertaining space. Together, these landscape elements improve circulation, support multiple ways to use the property at once, and turn a formerly difficult backyard into a more comfortable, connected, and practical setting for daily life.

Stone steps, clean masonry, and clipped evergreen structure lead gracefully into the screened porch and connect the home to the broader landscape, copyright: Michael J Lee

Natural light, generous paving, and views into the surrounding landscape make this screened porch an inviting extension of the garden, copyright: Michael J Lee

Bluestone flooring and a sheltered colonnade create a refined transition space that links the architecture to the surrounding garden and pool terrace, copyright: Michael J Lee

A covered side porch adds a quieter, more intimate edge to the property, with warm decking and garden views that extend the outdoor living experience, copyright: Michael J Lee

screened porch designed for year-round outdoor living

The new screened porch creates a comfortable threshold between the house and backyard, making it easier to stay connected to the landscape throughout the day and across the seasons. Broad openings, generous paving, and direct views to the gardens, terraces, and wooded edge allow the porch to feel fully engaged with the outdoor spaces beyond, rather than separate from them. Retractable screens add flexibility for year-round use, offering protection when needed while still preserving light, air, and a strong visual connection to the backyard. Together with the adjoining colonnade and steps, the porch improves circulation, extends usable living space, and helps the landscape feel more inviting, accessible, and integrated with daily life.

The pool terrace sits comfortably within a framework of flowering shrubs, clipped evergreens, and mature woodland, balancing openness with privacy, copyright: Michael J Lee

Framed by soft planting and woodland views, the pool lounge terrace offers a quiet outdoor room designed for relaxation and seasonal enjoyment, copyright: Michael J Lee

A compact pool, terraced stone walls, and a screened porch work together to create a cohesive outdoor living landscape on a challenging sloped site, copyright: Michael J Lee

The pool terrace and fire feature are set within layered planting beds and backed by mature trees, giving the landscape a private, resort-like feel, copyright: Michael J Lee

custom pool terrace with layered planting

The pool terrace, fire feature, and surrounding plantings work together as a cohesive outdoor living environment, with each space connected back to the screened porch and the house. Broad paving, terraced transitions, and clear sightlines make movement between the porch, pool, and lower gathering areas feel natural and easy. Around these spaces, layered shrubs, hydrangeas, clipped evergreens, and soft perennials temper the masonry and bring texture, color, and seasonal change to the terrace. The fire feature adds another destination just beyond the pool, creating a comfortable sequence of spaces that supports swimming, lounging, entertaining, and quiet evenings outdoors.

From above, the full landscape plan reveals a carefully organized composition of pool terrace, fire feature, screened porch, and connecting garden spaces.

backyard for family life in every season

From above, the full layout reveals how the backyard was transformed into a more usable and enjoyable extension of the home. The pool, screened porch, fire feature, and outdoor kitchen create distinct spaces for play, gathering, relaxing, and entertaining, giving this family more ways to spend time outdoors together throughout the seasons.

this property in the news

Wellesley Project Wins PRISM Silver Award for Best Design for Outdoor Living 2025

Wellesley Project Wins PRISM Silver Award for Best Design for Outdoor Living | Builders and Remodelers Association of Greater Boston (BRAGB)

We’re thrilled to share that our recent Wellesley “Wellesley Backyard Escape” project has been recognized with a PRISM Silver Award for Best Design for Outdoor Living! A huge thank you to our incredible partners at New England Design and Construction – collaboration like this is what makes projects shine. The PRISM Awards recognize the finest projects and outstanding achievements of builders, remodelers, developers, project owners, architects, land planners, marketing and advertising firms, interior designers, and other professionals in the home building industry.