Photograph by Lauren Rubinstein
Most substantial-increase property owners covet major flooring for town views, but this few selected the floor stage in order to create a lush courtyard surrounded by Buckhead’s skyline. Inside designer Bill Musso and his husband, Bryan Cooke, saw a concrete slab in some cases littered with debris and imagined options. With the help of yard designer Alex Smith, they now get pleasure from an excess 3,200 square toes of outside living house, which include 9 trees.
“I preferred the back garden to pull you into it as if it were being magnetic,” suggests Bryan. “When we have buddies about, they ordinarily bypass the residing home and head straight for the backyard.” The two often get started their times there with coffee, acquire do the job calls exterior, then love meal or a cocktail al fresco in the evening.

Photograph by Lauren Rubinstein

Photograph by Lauren Rubinstein
Putting in a back garden on top of concrete—with a parking deck below—was no easy feat. Alex and Patrick Walker of Malone Design labored with engineers to make sure the excess weight of backyard garden walls, planters, and plant product would be secure, as well as to deal with water and drainage problems. Artificial turf and elevated planters give the illusion of a purely natural garden, with Chinese fringetrees, Korean boxwoods, and Wheeler’s dwarf pittosporum furnishing construction.

Photograph by Lauren Rubinstein

Photograph by Lauren Rubinstein

Photograph by Lauren Rubinstein
The pair was to some degree inspired by the Lurie Backyard in Chicago’s Millennium Park, which was also constructed above a parking garage. As in that back garden, below, they deliver out seasonal merchandise this sort of as a citrus tree and climbing roses in warm weather conditions. The playful frog sculpture by Robert Kuo can be moved around to include visible fascination. “We use the backyard yr-spherical but primarily in spring and slide,” claims Monthly bill. “It’s this sort of a natural area to entertain in.”
Resources | Interior structure: Musso Layout Group | Backyard garden structure: Alex Smith Back garden Design | Development: Malone Development
This post appears in our Tumble 2022 difficulty of Atlanta Magazine’s House.
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