Neighborhood Commons

Shorewood, MN

Completed 2024

JPG2025-NARI_RotY-MINNESOTA-ResLandscapeOutdoor100250_SLVR-CLR

“This project beautifully delivers on the vision of an inviting, multifunctional outdoor living space. The design balances comfort, entertainment, and style while addressing significant site challenges with smart engineering solutions. The integration of features—pizza oven, hot tub, fire table, and pergola-covered firepit—creates a true destination for family and friends.” – NARI’s comments on Neighbor B’s project

“[Mom’s] was so incredible – they took everything that we were asking for and made it so much more beautiful. They communicated with the entire neighborhood and set expectations and had a certain level of professionalism. As we started talking about the plan and the timeline, the level of communication and follow-through really set the whole team apart, the leadership team and crews alike. The whole experience was first class.”

Two neighboring families in the same community transformed their backyards into connected retreats, each with its own flair yet designed to flow seamlessly together. One inspired by the other, Neighborhood Commons are versatile landscape designs both complete with a hot tub, outdoor kitchen station, dining area, wood-burning firepit, and TV lounge for game nights. Both families prioritized open lawn space between their homes for their kids to play, blending their yards into one shared destination for the neighborhood to come relax and make memories together.

Neighbor A

neighbor b

Behind the Design

Design Notes

Before

A corner lot with a high water table, a wetland setback eating thirty feet of the yard, and a family who wanted one thing: the backyard where everyone ends up.

The Idea

Aim everything at the living room. The bubbling-rock water feature sits on a straight axis from the sofa, the turf stepper path lines up behind it, and white pines wrap the corner for seclusion. Then load the edges: pizza oven, hot tub, fire table, and a wood-burning firepit under the pergola.

After

Porcelain pavers keep it modern and easy, hidden drainage under the patio handles the water table, and the space swings from lively get-togethers to quiet family nights without changing clothes.

The Brief

—A dedicated entertainment area built for gatherings
—An outdoor kitchen and grilling station — pizza included
—A custom fire feature as the evening focal point
—A casual lounge that works as the guys’ hangout

Materials & Craft

Porcelain pavers
Wood-burning firepit & pergola
Custom pizza oven
Bubbling-rock water feature
White pine screening

The living-room axis

Water feature and turf steppers align on a straight sightline from the main living room — the backyard composes itself from the couch.

A floating bar

A custom metal frame suspends the bar countertop, keeping the outdoor kitchen open and sleek where it meets the reworked deck steps.

Privacy, planted

White pines wrap the corner lot into seclusion, and the planting palette was picked for full sun and a high water table — beauty that survives its site.

Water you never see

An underground drainage system beneath the patio quietly moves surface water to the low point of the property.

The hard part

A 30-foot wetland setback where only patios could encroach — and only by 4.5 feet — plus a 30% hardcover cap. Every major feature (pergola, hot tub, kitchen) had to land outside the zone, and the design still had to feel inevitable.