Requirements for licensed contractors depend on the scope of work and the location of the project.

Golden hour on the serene rooftop offers some of the city's finest views out onto the harbour below and far beyond.

"The importance of this outdoor connection was a very high priority for the clients," O'Brien explains. "They wanted the boys to be free, but wanted to keep an eye on them without them feeling like they’re being monitored."

Private garden with deck

The garage’s huge doors had been covered up, so Studio Karhard freed up the openings for steel-and-glass doors from Ferrotec.

The glassed-in greenhouse courtyard connects the front and back ends of the 3-bedroom home.

Here is a peek at the exterior at night. As you can see, floor-to-ceiling sliding windows open onto a decked bamboo patio.

The landscaping appears to be based on the mullet principle: business in the front, as seen here (manicured grid lawn, with native vegetation sprouting in careful symmetry), party in the back (sunflowers and wild mountain grass growing in harmonious chaos).

The rooftop deck looks out to city views.

Rear view as guest inn entry from the bottom side

A true retreat with 1,000+ square foot private terrace and stunning views.

Unobstructed views from the terrace at the Artists' Penthouse.

1000+sf terrace with stunning 270 degree views of Vancouver, the Burrard Inlet and North Shore Mountains.

The house architects Teresa Sarmiento and Nicolas Tovo designed for their family—including 1-year-old Clara, for whom the structure is named—is a celebration of recycled materials.

A maple tree grows through an ipe deck in this garden that Mary Barensfeld designed for a family in Berkeley, California. A reflecting pool separates it from a granite patio, which is furnished with a Petal dining table by Richard Schultz and chairs by Mario Bellini. The 1,150-square-foot garden serves as an elegant transition from the couple’s 1964 Japanese-style town house to a small, elevated terrace with views of San Francisco Bay. Filigreed Cor-Ten steel fence screens—perforated with a water-jet cutter to cast dappled shadows on a bench and the ground below—and zigzagging board-formed concrete retaining walls are examples.

A section of the facade—a cross between a shoji screen and a barn door—slides open. Planter boxes contain edible varieties that fuel Mary’s culinary explorations.

Desert Midcentury Modern Landscape

A sunken conversation pit surrounding a fire pit sits adjacent to the pool in this semi-outdoor space at a home in Atlantic Beach, Florida.

Just off this kitchen is this gorgeous "edible garden" making garden-to-table dining a reality in your very own home.

The architects embraced the modernist form of the new structure instead of cladding the extension in expensive brick to match the original Victorian’s exterior.

Moving the entrance off the street to the rear of the house allowed for the creation of a diminutive side yard.

Designed by Boston-based architect Sebastian Mariscal, this house, which celebrates the best of Californian indoor-outdoor living, was designed to frame views of the trees and the surrounding landscape.

Interior ceiling beams continue externally to give sense of extended living spaces inside to outside. Timber battens to cement sheet add texture to the exterior light weight walls

The communal courtyard at the front of the complex is a favorite meeting place for the couples’ kids. Underneath a six-foot overhang, concrete planters alternate with custom entryways fabricated on-site from lenga wood.

A single crepe myrtle, which sports red blossoms in summer, defines the courtyard.

An aerial view of the rooftop deck.

The rooftop deck is a great place for alfresco dining in the summer.

The swimming pool area exemplifies relaxation and luxury. algedra.ae

While a two-story structure did not meet the zoning code, Richard Neutra bypassed that via his design of a "gloriette," an outdoor room flanked by aluminum louvers. Those panels shelter the home against the harsh desert elements and were recreated as part of the five-year restoration of Richard Neutra's original design. Photo: Tim Street-Porter