Patios and decks are evolving fast thanks to a new generation of outdoor fire amenities. The Key West Coffee Table by Firegear, for example,  which was introduced in 2011, is actually a portable propane fire pit. The elegant contemporary table is 43 inches wide, 20.25 inches tall, and 20

inches deep,and has a 30 inch-long stainless steel burner running across the top.

According to the manufacturer the burner is covered first with a 1-inch (minimum) layer of cinders/lava rock and then you can add a layer of “fire glass,” or “fire stones” — also available from Firegear (the two units above, one with a stainless steel top and the other with a bronze powder-coated one, courtesy Firegear). Eco Smart Fire makes a wide range of outdoor fire features (some of which I have mentioned in previous posts). The Dish, shown here, is

one of their most classic designs and recalls both Frank Lloyd Wright’s urns  and an abstract campfire (image courtesy Eco Smart Fire). It’s made of steel, stands 9.2 inches high with a diameter of 23.6 inches, and burns bio-ethanol. For the old-fashioned wood burning aficionado there are legions of products based on versions of the old drum idea but one example stands out for originality and

and practicality: the Landmann Ball of Fire Outdoor Fireplace. The steel mesh sphere puts the flames on a pedestal while protecting you from the sparks; dimensions are 30.25 x 32.75 x  34.75 inches (image courtesy Best Barbecue Grills Reviews.com).

Architects and designers have always been interested in using outdoor fireplaces to shape a place, not to mention a patio or terrace. Julia Morgan — architect of Hearst Castle — designed one of the most evocative outdoor fireplaces ever, in the late 1920s — actually four-in-one — as a monument to commemorate the saving of an old-growth redwood forest. It’s called the California Federation of

Women’s Clubs Hearthstone, built as part of a picnic site near the South Fork of the Eel River in Northern California, and is made of stone and redwood (photo by Andy Bird courtesy 101 Things.com). There’s a bit of an irony here, since the fireplaces would presumably consume the occasional redwood log, but it is nonetheless a marvelously poetic expression of a partnership between man and nature. It’s a small, gabled, cruciform-shaped temple to the gods — as if the entire forest were one giant house and this was its hearth. For a more recent residential example, consider the outdoor fireplace at a house in Washington’s

San Juan Islands by Olson Kundig Architects. The house and the fireplace are set into a stone outcropping. The hearth is “carved out of existing stone; leveled on top…otherwise left raw” according to the architect, so the fireplace is in one sense hewn right out of the site (photo courtesy Olson Kundig Architects).

Outdoor fireplaces are even designed into some of our ready-made plans, like

this one in Plan 120-162, which is part of a lanai overlooking the backyard. So you can see, there many ways — from temporary to permanent — to add a little summer sizzle to your outdoor space.

Spring fever is upon me so what makes a great outdoor room? In Baroque Italy it might have included finely clipped box hedges, stone benches, a bubbling fountain, the odd grotto, and perhaps a running stream for keeping wine bottles cool (those thirsty cardinals and popes!). In the late 1920s the famous modern architect Le Corbusier designed a roof garden for an eccentric client in Paris that was a surrealist living room: an ornate fireplace, a rug-like lawn, and the

Arc de Triomphe peeking over one wall like the fragment of a floating cornice (photo courtesy Studio International). More recently architects and designers have continued to push boundaries, literally, and they have shown how almost every room in the house can move outdoors. Here’s a quick round-up of indoor functions that migrate.

Living. Of course a patio sitting area becomes a secondary living room, as

landscape architect Bernard Trainor shows in this arrangement around a fire pit, where the gravel floor and perimeter plantings neatly define the space (photo courtesy Bernard Trainor). Crisp edges, smooth ground, two chairs and perhaps a shade umbrella are really all you need. A built-in bench protected from the sun

by a retractable canopy is another way to go as shown in this example by architect Buzz Yudell, of Moore Ruble Yudell Architects, and architectural colorist Tina Beebe, where the pillows seem to embody the weight and color of shade itself — lighter to darker green.

Cooking. Outdoor kitchens have grown in popularity and run the gamut from simple built-in barbecues with an adjacent counter to grand food preparation

zones with a full complement of appliances designed for outdoor use, not to mention pizza ovens and flat screen televisions. (The example above is from Plan 496-14, by Leon Meyer.) The arrival of versatile folding wall systems — pioneered by Nanawall from the US, with other companies like Centor from Australia adding to the mix — have made it possible to turn any kitchen with an outside wall into an outdoor kitchen. (This Nanawall example is courtesy

Shannon, Scarlett, Taylor Architects).

Dining. In good weather everyone wants to be outside, especially at mealtime,

and here’s an especially serene space for alfresco dining by Aidlin Darling Design. I hope that after this compelling image was made the owners added a little more seating — otherwise the fire seems to be entertaining itself (photo courtesy Aidlin Darling via Custom Home). Architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen is known for supremely elegant houses where outdoor rooms are proportioned

like interior ones, as this hip-roofed patio dining pavilion demonstrates (courtesy Architectural Digest).

Bathing. Where the climate is temperate and there’s enough privacy even bathrooms can move outside, as this dramatic example by the firm of

Backen Gillam Kroeger Architects demonstrates. When the walls slide away you can really soak in the sunset! (Photo courtesy BGK Architects.)

Sleeping. It’s a summertime pleasure to sleep in the open air. Certainly it can be done with a sleeping bag, but there are other ways to go. The Mexican modern architects Legoretta and Legoretta turned an entire bedroom

at a house in Hawaii into a breezeway. The corner disappears — no sleepwalking allowed (photo courtesy Architectural Digest). But simply installing a hammock

on the porch (visible in the distance, house design by and photo courtesy of Walker Warner Architects) might be enough. Or why not hang your bed from the

rafters for the ultimate relaxation room, and let your house rock you to sleep (photo courtesy Chomec.com).

Hurricane Katrina blew away or seriously damaged a lot of Gulf Coast architectural history — like the classic mid 19nth century “shotgun house”

at Bay St. Louis shown here (courtesy Mississippi Heritage Trust) and so-called because you could shoot a bullet front to back without hitting an interior wall, but Mississippi architect Bruce Tolar has fought back, helping communities overcome the devastation and even renew their roots. Like Marianne Cusato and others he developed a variety of innovative, easy-to-construct, small houses — including Katrina Cottages  — that add character, even a sense of history, to a neighborhood. Now these plans are part of our Exclusive Studio.

His two bedroom, one bath, 672 sq. ft. Plan 536-4 deftly brings the shotgun idea into the 21st century by including hurricane-resistant construction

and a contemporary layout. (You can still enjoy some target practice down the hall though you’ll need to be okay with blasting through the bedroom closet.) The house is tiny but lives large thanks to the generous front porch and the combined kitchen/living space. The three bedroom, three bath, 1,413 sq. ft.

Plan 536-1 takes a more expansive approach while keeping the neighborly

 front. The cross-axial dormers brighten the upstairs bunk room and bath.

Plan 536-3 is a simplified version of Plan 536-1, with no upper floor and

   a shortened front porch. I can see this plan built as a vacation cabin

or a starter home. But these houses are really designed to shape a

 community, as Bruce shows in his walkable Cottage Square development at

Ocean Springs, Mississippi, pictured in the two photos above, where his designs complement those by Marianne Cusato and others in a pleasing example of countryside urbanity.

Plan 536-5 takes a different tack and draws inspiration from Caribbean

architecture with stucco or plaster walls and high balconies as well as 

wrap-around porches to maximize cross ventilation in a hot climate.

With their connections to a larger historical context  these plans are all about creating — or in some cases re-creating — a strong sense of place. These houses remind me of Mark Twain’s famous line that history might not repeat it self, but it rhymes. Welcome Bruce!

Our collection of plans by invited designers from around the globe is growing. The latest international members include Italian architect Lucia Strona and Lithuanian architect Skirmantas Slamas. Lucia’s small modern 1,636 sq. ft.,

house, Plan 542-2,  above, emphasizes outdoor connections. At the center of the 2 bedroom 2 bath home is the living-dining area, adjacent to the

generous sheltered patio, which functions as an entertaining space. In Plan 542-3, below –  with 3 bedrooms 3.5 baths in  1,989 sq. ft. — she uses

geometry to break up the box: the living room and bedrooms occupy a

long rectangle that intersects with a square containing the kitchen-dining area. Each geometric unit distorts and expands the other, which produces distinctive overlapping spaces such as the cozy corner sitting area in the living room

and the trapezoidal bathroom on the second floor. Lucia specializes in green design, paying particular attention to a house’s orientation on the site and the use of eco-friendly materials. She’s also an expert in historic preservation and

recently completed the restoration of this 16th century stone castle (now that ‘s a hefty barrel vault!).

Skirmantas Slamas has focused on urban design, as with this compact row

house complex Plan 538-1, below (each unit is 1,000 sq. ft.). The living-dining

area opens to a rear terrace, allowing the house to expand in good weather. If the garage is not needed it’s possible to combine it with the living area.

Skirmantas has also worked outside the box, with distinctive vacation houses

inspired by nautical design. Benvenuti Lucia; and Pasveikinti Skirmantas! To keep “traveling” and see plans from Australia, Brazil, Estonia, India, and Ireland as well as Italy and Lithuania, browse our entire International Studio.

Earth Day is April 22, so let’s talk recycling. It’s not a new idea: remember the Romans! In 10 B. C. Emperor Augustus removed the obelisk from the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis in Egypt and placed it in the Circus Maximus; then in 1589 Pope Sixtus V had it erected in the Piazza del Popolo topped with a cross. More recent power players have adapted this collect-and-conquer approach to a residential scale and architecturally re-purposed everything from antique ceilings to airplanes and automobiles. Take this new residence by architect

David Hertz, which is a 2012 Record House (drawing in an earlier post; photos courtesy David Hertz). It shows how to recycle a Boeing 747. Hertz turned the

wings into roofs on two levels (in this house wings are really wings). And by the way, a jet engine engine cowling makes a great reflecting pool. Part of the exterior fuselage forms the kitchen backsplash, conveying the delightful

impression that a plane has just landed beside the sink — or maybe this is simply another form of Mileage Plus. One little caveat about  repurposing a 747 — if it’s visible from the air you need to notify the FAA so they don’t think it’s a crash site.

Leger Wanaselja Architects is known for their eco-friendly approach to design, 

most recently for their infill house with roofs “sawed out of grey cars left for parts in local junk yards,” and glass awnings “fabricated from junked Dodge

Caravan side windows.”  They used salvaged automobile roofs for upper walls, and poplar bark (waste product from the furniture industry of North Carolina)

for the lower walls. Inside, all the finish wood for cabinetry and trim is salvage, lending the main living and dining areas a warmly inviting glow (photos courtesy Leger Wanaselja).

Recycling isn’t just about one-off custom design — it’s built into many

contemporary materials, including solid surface counters like Vetrazzo, which is recycled glass in a base of concrete and comes in a wide variety of colors,

or wall tiles made from recycled glass like this example from Bedrock Industries, also produced in a broad spectrum of styles and hues.

Which Reminds Me

Ready-made plans are all about recycling, too! Sea Ranch Cottage Plan 447-2 

by William Turnbull is a good example — use it as the base with which to shape

a weekend getaway. Just adapt it to your site, add whatever upgrades are

required, and you’re done…and no need to contact the FAA.