Dreamy Santorini

EDINA, MN

Completed 2023

“We cannot say enough great things about Mom’s Design Build!! From our first meeting, to design consultation and development, the completion of our total yard renovation with the construction crews, and finally the maintenance of our beautiful yard and gardens.

This project was designed for a young couple with three young children who recently moved into a newly built house. While the house met their needs for interior spaces, the yard was not touched by the builder. The family wanted to clean up their sloped and shady back yard with decaying trees to create a functional space that would host family and friends with children for a variety of events from Friday night BBQs to birthday parties to game day cookouts and beyond.

They turned our unusable yard, that would flood anytime it rained, into an amazing outdoor oasis!! Now we can’t spend enough time in our yard!! Mom’s is a top notch company with high quality service and standards that have made us LOVE our yard!!

We highly recommend Mom’s Design Build for any of your patio and landscaping needs!” – Monica

Reminiscent of homeowners’ honeymoon in Santorini, the design features a palette of white with blue accents and strong vertical architectural statements.

White painted brick for the fireplace and kitchen creates a clean, simple finish on the masonry with solid bluestone countertops and caps as a blue accent.

Read about Dreamy Santorini in Martha Stewart’s blog!

TA-DA!

Property Serviced by Mom’s Fine Gardening

Behind the Design

Design Notes

Before

A newly built house with a backyard the builder never touched: sloped, shady, scattered with decaying trees. A young couple, three small children, and memories of a honeymoon in Santorini.

The Idea

Bring the Aegean to Minnesota. White-painted brick, solid bluestone in place of sea-blue, strong vertical lines, and a four-tier patio stepping down the slope — living room, dining room, kitchen, each on its own terrace.

After

The see-through fireplace reads hearth-height from the sofas and table-height from dinner. Diamond patterns cut into the sandstone echo through the chimney shroud and the firebox. And the gravel bocce court is secretly the smartest thing in the yard — an oversized French drain disguised as a game.

The Brief

—Tame a sloped, shady yard the builder left behind
—Host everything from Friday BBQs to birthday parties
—A design that remembers Santorini
—Space that works for three young children

Materials & Craft

Tumbled bluestone diamond inlays
White-painted brick masonry
Solid bluestone countertops & caps
Timber pergola
42-inch infrared grill & sunken ice well
Acurio architectural panels

Four terraces, one slope

Retaining walls step the yard down through living, dining, and kitchen levels — the firebox sits hearth-height at the sofas and exactly table-height at the dining terrace.

The bocce-court drain

The lowest, wettest spot in the yard became a gravel bocce court that is actually the water-catchment system — hidden strip drains along the masonry feed it invisibly.

Diamonds everywhere

Custom 6-inch tumbled bluestone inlays pattern the patio; the diamond repeats in the chimney shroud, the firebox shape, and the Acurio panels concealing storage under the deck.

A kitchen with tiers of its own

The angled L-shaped kitchen serves 36-inch counters for cooking, counter seating for kids, and 42-inch bar seating for adults — with a 42-inch infrared grill and a top-sunken ice well.

The hard part

Making four different floor heights feel like one composition — bluestone steps threaded precisely between masonry elements, columns extended to the upper deck to merge the spaces, and the hot tub tucked behind a wrapping wall for the shortest winter dash from the house.

🏆 NARI Minnesota 2023 Contractor of the Year — Gold · Residential Landscape Design & Outdoor Living