When you arrive at a home, ask yourself, does this arrival and entry provide a welcoming experience? Or is the space more of an afterthought and simply to be ignored until you are inside? Landscape architects should employ design techniques to use the front yard, outdoor arrival, and entry space as a way to deliver a pleasant experience for homeowners and guests, as well as complement the residence.
Before we can begin to design solutions, we must examine the typical conditions of residential front yards throughout neighborhoods in the United States. We will present some of these conditions for you to examine your front yard for challenges and opportunities. Landscape Architects can help you solve these challenges and design a welcoming and functional front yard and outdoor arrival experience.
Primary Functions
Two primary functions create the framework of the residential front yard.
- The setting for viewing the house from the street
- Serves as the public for arrival and entry to the home.
The front yard acts as a frame to view the picture of the house. You often hear the term “curb appeal” as a way to describe this “framing” of the house. In many cases, this involves using plant materials along the foundations and around the front of the home.
As we mentioned in our article “The Anatomy of a Typical Residential Back Yard,” a Landscape Architect shines at organizing and designing residential yards to deliver spaces that serve the primary functions, address the challenges of a typical site, and are aesthetically pleasing.
If you want to learn more, feel free to reach out to us. For professional design services, visit our Residential Design page to review our various design packages.
Reach out to us if you want to bounce ideas or learn more. For professional design services, visit our Residential Design page to review our various design packages.
Typical Residential Front Yard Conditions
1. Driveway Dominates the View
2. Entry Walk Hidden from View
3. Entry Foyer Lacks Enclosure
4. Hidden Front Door
5. Little Enjoyment of Front Yard
Driveway Dominates the View
Across America, driveways are the dominant visual element of homes. Usually made of concrete or asphalt, they aren’t visually appealing. While necessary for many homes as a place to park cars, they can dominate the space. Unfortunately, making them smaller isn’t a great option. If a driveway is too narrow, it leaves very little room for people to walk between the cars and the lawn. That can be messy during the winter months or during rainy weather. Oftentimes, there is only 2 feet or less of space between the parked cars and the lawn.
The challenge is to provide adequate space for parked cars and comfortable walking space, while not allowing the driveway to dominate the view.
Entry Walk Hidden from View
Another common problem is when the entry walk is hidden. Imagine you are a guest arriving at the house, as you stand in the driveway or along the sidewalk you cannot see where the entry walk starts or connects to the driveway. This is common in the typical front yard. Many times, the entry walk is hidden by large plants or dense plantings. Guests are forced to wander up towards the house until they can see the walkway. This creates a feeling of uneasiness for some.
Designers must address this challenge by providing something to acknowledge or bring attention to the entry walk. This may include specimen plantings, lighting, sculptures, or a variety of other techniques.
Entry Foyer Lacks Enclosure
The entry foyer or stoop of many homes often leaves visitors feeling uncomfortable as they wait or congregate outside the front door. This is a result of a lack of enclosure and exposure to harsh elements, such as sun and rain. Typically, these entry areas lack a sense of separation from the street and front yard. Many times, the entry is in direct view of the neighbors across the street who are able to see who is coming and going from the house.
This condition can be solved by providing some enclosure, but not so much enclosure that the front door is hidden as described in our next condition.
Hidden Front Door
In contrast, a hidden front door creates an uncomfortable situation for a first-time visitor. Often a result of overgrown plant materials, this condition can develop over time as plants grow or are not properly maintained.
It can be very uncomfortable to approach a home without knowing the location of the front door. It can be scary for some folks, as they do not want to intrude or appear as an uninvited guest.
Properly maintaining plants, as well as designing the landscape and pedestrian circulation can go a long way to solving this challenge.
Little Enjoyment of Front Yard
A growing trend involves homeowners using their front yards as outdoor living and gathering spaces. Typically, front yards lack a memorable style and blend with other front yards on the street. There is no place to sit and talk with a neighbor, have a cup of coffee, or read a magazine.
The goal can be to create a front yard that is usable and leaves a great impression on visitors and homeowners.
Closing Thoughts
The challenges of the typical front yard presented here can be addressed by landscape architects. While some things, like the location of the front door, are difficult and expensive to change, there are still techniques that can make the space more enjoyable. This is the value a Landscape Architect can bring to your project. It’s possible to create a beautiful, useful, and inviting space in your front yard.