Checkerboard Porcelain Patio and Putting Green in Bothell, WA

Modern Haven is a backyard design-build project in Bothell, Washington, built for homeowners who wanted a low-maintenance yard with room to play, gather and unwind. The existing yard was a largely open lawn bordered by gravel, planting strips and a large-rock retaining wall, and it had drainage problems. Angkorscape worked through several design revisions with the homeowners, then turned that lawn into connected porcelain patios and walkways centered on a custom covered pergola over a checkerboard patio. Built-in seating walls, a raised planter, artificial turf and the existing rock wall define each area, and a French drain runs beneath the turf to carry water away.

The patios are Belgard Quarziti 2.0 porcelain in Glacier, with Quarziti 2.0 Mantle forming the checkerboard beneath a painted cedar pergola whose multiwall polycarbonate roof keeps the seating area covered and dry. Belgard Catalina Grana pavers in Victorian with a Charcoal border form the walkways, and Belgard Melville walls in Dark Charcoal frame the seating. A putting green, a custom stone veneer water feature with multiple spillways, and a gas fire pit with a Warming Trend burner give the homeowners places to play and relax, with a wood privacy wall as the backdrop for the fire pit seating. Landscape lighting from in-lite highlights the patios, planting and water feature after dark. The four-month build, approximately $350,000 in 2021, ended with Mahesh calling the finished backyard “something truly special.”