Every homeowner wants to spend quality time in their backyard with friends and family and make some incredible memories. Making sure that your outdoor living features have a sense of permanence will enhance the experience. Masonry features are the best way to create this sense of permanence, along with giving you the beauty and function you need. To inspire your next project, these masonry features will make your home the hub of the neighborhood in Oyster Bay and Sag Harbor, NY.
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A Warming Fire
Nothing brings friends and family together like the promise of a warming fire. Masonry fire features include the fire pit, fire table, and outdoor fireplace. Fire pits are simple masonry structures built in either a circle or a square that puts a wood or gas fire at the center, evoking the primal feeling of sitting around a campfire. Fire tables use a gas flame that acts as a centerpiece for an exceptional dining experience. Outdoor fireplaces are prominent masonry features that have a commanding and welcoming presence. They are also customizable and very efficient at maintaining heat in an outdoor living space.
An Outdoor Kitchen & Island Bar
The best way to keep everyone comfortable outside involves making sure that everyone is nourished and refreshed. An outdoor kitchen can be customized to your cooking style with a variety of appliances and features such as a wood-fired pizza oven. An outdoor kitchen with an island bar is a fantastic masonry feature that can really revolutionize the way you and your family use your backyard. This semi-circular or U-shaped design puts the cook front and center, with bar seating on the other side where friends and family can sit at the front row to all of the cooking action.
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A Splashing Waterfall
The presence of a water feature in a landscape design is always guaranteed to set the mood and keep energy flowing. Waterfalls are exciting water features since they have such a wide range of design styles and are truly customizable depending on whatever aesthetic drives the landscape and the overall home. Waterfalls made from masonry can be as simple and elegant as a glassy flow coming out of a perfectly vertical stone wall into a reflecting pool, or they can be as complex and naturalistic as a replica of a mountain cascade dropping into your swimming pool. The sounds of the water flowing can be at various intensities and either make a relaxing atmosphere or keep the fun going all summer long.
A Retaining Wall
If your outdoor living space is too cramped and your property sits on a slope, you can expand your patio area by cutting into the slope, securing the slope with a retaining wall, and using that wall as a central feature. An outdoor kitchen, fireplace, and water feature could all be integrated into the retaining wall to create an outdoor living room feel.
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An Upgraded Patio
Before you start transforming your landscape, consider that there needs to be a proper masonry surface to base your new hub for activities. Your patio surface should be given as much care and attention as other facets of your landscape. Today, there are plenty of choices in materials, from natural stone to concrete pavers. Pavers are made with the most advanced concrete technology, allowing for significantly more style choices than natural stone along with non-slip surfaces.