Building the Ultimate Backyard

With a title like “Ultimate Backyard”, you may instantly form some opinions.  Unachievable- I could never build that.  Arrogant- who made you the judge of “ultimate”?  Stupid- what a waste of resources.  Did you at least get LEED points?   Braggart- I have built far bigger projects.  What makes you think this is “ultimate”?

One definition of ultimate is “the end goal”; another is “the best imaginable or achievable of its kind”.  I didn’t flinch from naming this project “Ultimate Backyard Lancaster”, and we used the hashtag #ultimatebackyardlancaster in our social media for this project.  For us it truly was reaching an end goal, of building a space that met the client’s dreams.  It is also the best result our team has ever achieved to date.  However, I readily acknowledge others have built far larger projects than this!

How did we land such a project?  

The zoning officer literally asked me this question!  It was a referral from another client, for whom we have gone above and beyond multiple times.  I am humbled by the trust that was placed in us!  From the beginning, this client made it clear that he wanted to be involved in decisions, but had no time to babysit the project.  He wanted us to handle everything, which would include an entertainment barn, swimming pool, patio, landscaping, lighting, stormwater management, and all permitting.  

When the client first contacted us, he mentioned the barn and shared architectural prints.  At our first onsite meeting, he clarified that he wanted us to head up the entire project.  He knew he wanted us to manage the entire project, which would include the barn and pool.  The client had no hard requirements for the design of the entire outdoor living space; it was up to us to create a vision that connected well with all existing elements. There was an existing bocce court, pergolas, and putting green adjacent to the space we were designing.  These existing elements were built by another contractor about 7 years earlier.  We would oversee final design changes to barn exterior, all interior details, and site planning.  In addition to the civil engineer retained by the architect for the barn, we would retain two additional firms for MEP and stormwater planning and an interior lighting designer.

A few key design components were already established.  The entertainment barn had the initial drawings completed for the shell and basic interior layout, and he had a favored installer for the timber framing.  The pool size was determined, and also had a preferred installer.  Other than that, it was up to us to create the vision! 

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We didn’t commit to a specific timeline for completion, but we were ambitious!  It took a year for project planning, and we broke ground in mid September 2024.  The project was mostly completed by mid June 2025, other than a few miscellaneous items.   Impressive statistics that were initially overwhelming:

• 4,500 sq.ft. of permeable pavers
• 1,000 sq.ft. of permeable artificial turf
• 3,000 sq.ft. of finished living space
• 1,300 sq.ft. pool
• Stormwater planning for 11,000 sq.ft. of additional surface, plus 4,000 sq.ft. of existing improvements.

What qualified Willow Gates to build this?  

While it certainly stretched us, we weren’t just hardscapers who decided to go build a barn.  The journey to this project started in 2020, when we began managing all aspects of outdoor living areas rather than just traditional hardscaping and landscaping.  Why did we do that?  I wrote about this last year in “Journey from Patios to Decks”.  In short, we saw an opportunity to better serve our clients and add profit centers.  I also thrive on challenges and learning, so it was a great fit personally for me.  Think about complex outdoor living areas and the trades they include… masons, framers, roofers, electricians, plumbers, etc.  There were few new sub contractors on this project, as we had already built a list of trusted partners.

What does it take to plan a project like this?  

Lots of communication and trusted experts; we needed many “licensed professionals”!  An architect and civil engineer for the barn.  An MEP engineer for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems.  A stormwater engineer.  And an excellent team of sub-contractors!

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What was the hardest part of this project?  

There were two areas that were particularly challenging.  One was stormwater management.  Due to the scale of the project, we were required to plan for a 100 year storm with a 24 hour return.  That meant we needed to store 7.48” of rainfall!  Paver and turf areas were self managing, and required a 20” stone base; in addition, the other impervious areas required a separate 30x90’ 24” deep infiltration pit!

The second was interior lighting. I love landscape lighting, but I was not an interior lighting expert.  We had one chance to get it right, and do-overs were not an option!  Based on a referral from a nationally known lighting expert, we turned to an architectural lighting designer.  Their design was mostly amazing, especially on the second floor of the barn.  This was the space where I and my electricians simply didn’t have the knowledge to design the lighting.  The lighting fixtures were also the most challenging to source due to a very convoluted supply chain.  It took 7 weeks just to actually receive a purchase order that we could approve, then months to fulfill the order!  

What was the most rewarding part of the project?  

First, seeing the space in use.  We need to realize that most clients hire us because they want to create memories with their friends and loved ones.  It’s that simple!  I stopped by one Saturday after we had just cut the free throw lines into the patio.  The client was out shooting hoops with his granddaughter, even though the project wasn’t complete! THIS is why we build what we build!  They have hosted family reunions, friends, board meetings and more… and they’ll probably host a family wedding or two as well!  

Meeting the mantra of “make it look like it was always there”.  The home had been built 10 years earlier, but the goal was for the barn to appear to have been built at the same time.  This made decisions so much easier!  The siding and stone veneer would match the home, as would the garage doors.  Inside, we found the exact tile accents for the backsplashes.  Cabinetry finishes and hardware were also matched; even most of the paint colors are an exact match of the home!  

We built a new entrance to the home that faces the pool. This required removing the existing window and installing new custom doors.  We matched the trim, the custom French doors, and even built a new curved copper roof over the new entrance!  A family member told the client “funny, I don’t remember those doors over there”.  Well, they weren’t there before!  Yet they truly appear to have been installed when the home was built.

The bar and backlit countertops.  We weren’t initially tasked with finishing the interior of the barn, but this was added as we were nearing the end of project planning.  As we began utility rough-ins, we added connections for a future bar that existed only in the client’s head.  By late 2024, we were tasked with designing this space and bringing it to life.  The backlit countertops were highly challenging, but immensely gratifying the first time we flipped the switch!  This required a Level G translucent quartz, and the lighting had to work the first time!  It’s an understatement to say there was a lot of coordination between the cabinet shop, lighting designer, electrician, and the countertop installers.

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Now, for some high points from a typical hardscaper point of view… The curves at the pool and firepit area.  Hours were spent designing this space so that curves would flow well.  The fire pit needed to be 15' from structures.  I needed a walkway to connect the existing bocce court to the new space.  And I wanted it to fit with the semi-circular turf area at the shallow end of the pool.  Is it perfect?  Almost!  From the ground, it is flawless.  From an aerial perspective, you can observe a slight pinch in the curve originating at the steps to the bocce court.  But these curves remain a favorite for me.

The colors and textures.  The client fell in love with Techo-Bloc’s Everest, and requested a 3 color diamond pattern around the pool.  He also asked for a 3 color blend in 3 sizes for the main patio.  We chose Shale Gray, Greyed Nickel, and the new Caffe Crema.  After brief consideration, I realized it would be much too busy to use such a dramatic pattern for another 2,500 sq.ft.  Rather, we took all those colors from the pool deck and used much more muted tones in Blu 60 Smooth HD for the main patio.  We still blended 3 colors, but one has to look carefully to distinguish the Grayed Nickel, Beige Cream, and Caffe Crema!  We repeated the borders throughout for continuity, using Blu in Onyx Black and Squadra in Merlot.

The landscape lighting.  I love to light up a backyard, and our landscapes are designed with focal points for landscape lighting.  We also added recessed lighting in the pool deck, as we couldn’t easily light this space from outside the patio.

The awards.  Like anyone else, I appreciate seeing our efforts recognized!  Ultimate Backyard Lancaster won the PICP category at HNA 2025 Awards, and garnered an Honorable Mention in Outdoor Living Features.  I was coaching a team in the HNA Installer Championship competition, so one of our teams accepted the awards.

What’s next for Willow Gates?  We need to hire a good project manager so we’re equipped to handle another ultimate backyard build!

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Jeremy Martin co-founded Willow Gates Landscaping in 2005. He became a CMHA instructor in 2016. He also founded Dust Killer Tools to he;p his company meet 2017 OSHA silica standards. Email jeremy@DustKiller.tools. Visit WillowGatesLandscaping.com and DustKiller.tools