Project story

Saratoga

Raised Deck Garden with Louvered Pergola and Fire Pit Circle

Hardscape
Pergolas + Fire Pits
Outdoor Lighting

A wide-open backyard organised around a lit deck stair, a louvered pergola lounge and a round gas fire pit.

The Garden

One lawn, three places to gather

The garden is built as a sequence of rooms around an open lawn: a deck for dining by the house, a raised pergola lounge at the far end and a circular fire pit in between. Pale decking, grey concrete walls and dark steel keep the palette calm, and the lighting does the rest after dark.

Chapter 1 · The Terraces

A deck by the house and a stage at the far end

Composite decking runs out from the back of the house as a dining and lounge terrace. At the far end of the lawn a wide staircase with cable railings lifts a second deck above a concrete planter bed, so the whole garden has a clear front and back.

Wide raised deck with a staircase, concrete planter filled with lavender and a louvered pergola over lounge seating at dusk

Light composite deck beside the house with a dining table, white sofas, two large cantilever umbrellas and black sliding doors

View across the house deck with white sofas in the foreground and the distant pergola deck across the lawn

Chapter 2 · Pergola & Shade

A louvered pergola for every kind of weather

The pergola's adjustable louvers open to the sky or close for shade, with overhead heaters tucked under the beam. An L-shaped sofa and a low coffee table fill the deck below, with views back across the lawn.

Close view under a black louvered pergola with an L-shaped sofa, armchairs and wooden coffee table on a pale deck

Low view from the sofa under the pergola across the deck to the lawn, ornamental grasses and the house

Chapter 3 · Fire Feature

A fire circle sized for a crowd

A round concrete patio holds a low black gas fire bowl and a ring of eight chairs. Grasses soften the edge and the lawn runs right up to it, so the circle feels like part of the lawn rather than a separate space.

Round concrete patio with a lit gas fire bowl, grey outdoor chairs and the pergola deck in the distance at dusk

Straight-down aerial of a round concrete patio with a fire bowl and eight chairs, ornamental grasses and lawn

Gas fire bowl glowing at night with chairs around it and lit steps in the background

Chapter 4 · After Dark

Step lights, strip lights and glowing planting

Every riser on the stair carries a recessed light, and the planter edge glows from beneath. Strip lights under the pergola and up-lights in the planting finish the picture.