Creating the 'Perfect' Outdoor Room

Villa Terrazza has been approached as lead designer on a new outdoor room project for a working couple living in Sonoma. The design process at Villa Terrazza starts with the client's filling out a questionnaire, which is designed to concentrate the clients' thinking about how they wish to use their space, how they entertain, and other lifestyle questions. This is followed up by site visits, to ascertain how certain variables will affect the design. The challenge to getting maximum utilization of an outdoor space is the ability to be comfortable in it. As such, sun protection during the day, and warmth to head off the night's chill will ensure outdoor spaces get used - a lot!

This new project, promises to be an exciting one! Our client has a original '70's' house, (actually built in 1973), very solidly built, but no improvements were made to it until they moved in 3 years ago... Original, as in nothing was done to it, still even has the Harvest Gold appliances. House sits on a nice large lot, 1/2 acre. House has been recently upgraded with all new windows, doors, and trim, and lots of paint. The house has no plantings whatsoever in the backyard, and has a 6' patio along the back wall.

Client wanted to have a full outdoor room, with the following as their wish list:

• Outdoor kitchen, with a spot for their beloved Big Green Egg, as well as a modern, commercial-quality stainless steel BBQ
• Clients knew that FIRE=GATHERING, so they wanted a 'living room' type of environment, with soft lighting, and the ambience created by a roaring fireplace. They wanted a true living room, with sofa, lounge chairs, rug, and the wife wanted to have lots of greenery, to remind guests that they were still outdoors.
• The property is on a somewhat busy street, so a water feature which created a nice sound effect was high on the list
• The client also wanted the ability to sit with friends around a more informal fire element, for those times when they had a large gathering. They wished to also include a firepit as well.
• One of the clients was from the East Coast, and had once joked with a neighbor about how a hammock could never be used by them because of all the biting insects. Since there are relatively few insects except in the wet spring, a hammock was to be incorporated somewhere into the design
• A dining area to accomodate 6-8 people was adequate for this busy couple's needs - for entertaining on a smaller, more intimate scale.

With the wish list understood, the outdoor living questionnaire all filled out, we set out to start designing...

Spring is (finally!) Springing

The buds have swollen, trees are blossoming, and we're sipping a glass of pinot from Roche Family Winery as we sit around the warmth from a roaring fire burning in one of the many firepits on display on the sumptuous patio of Villa Terrazza Patio & Home in Sonoma, CA.  We've finally finished setting up the displays of all the new arrivals of great cast aluminum, wood, woven and iron  patio furniture onto our outdoor displays.

Lots of folks ask me the advantage/disadvantages between natural gas and propane (LP) gas.  Both are safe, reliable, and throw a great deal of warmth.  LP gas soots a little more, so log sets may turn darker than with natural gas, but this is easily remedied with a dry paintbrush.  Portable 20 lb LP gas tanks allow firepits and fireplaces to be located far from the nearest gas line, thereby saving the cost of running lines.  Most of the firepits we sell have propane tank storage in the unit, under the burner. Some have a separate tank holder which doubles as a end table. (always handy to have a place to put a glass of wine down on)   On the other hand, nothing can end the evening faster than a LP tank run empty without a backup.  How long does an LP tank last in a firepit?  A 20 lb tanks hold approximately 430,250 BTU's. worth of gas.  Most firepits burn anywhere from 30,000 BTU/hr - 80,000 BTU/hr.  this means a 20 lb tank should last on average, about (assuming 50,000 BTU/hr appliance) about 8 1/2 hours of burn time, or 3-5 nights of average usage.

Natural gas never runs out.  Natural gas costs less than LP gas, unless you are like a customer who came in today from Napa.  His son owns a local propane business, so , as he put it, LP gas is VERY inexpensive for him.

There is something wonderful about sitting around a roaring fire with friends and family, swapping stories and jokes, and keeping warm on an otherwise cool evening.  With a quality firepit on your patio, you'll get more use from your patios than you would without it - I guarantee it!

Back from Little Corn Island, Nicaragua

After spending a couple of weeks lollygagging on the deserted wite sand beaches of LCI, we felt invigorated and refreshed, and returned to the wine country of northern California.  We it the ground running, with a great promotion from Regency about to occur - a combined Instant Rebate with a Mail-In Rebate,enabling folks to save up to $600 on a state of the art fireplace appliance to warm their homes!

Fireplaces are not something that get much use in Nicaraua's temperate climate - except perhaps up at altitude in the north of the country where nights get cool (50 degrees F - Brrr!).  But here where we see nighttime temperatures of 20 degrees, there's nothing like the warmth of a fireplace to curl up in front of.   With the convenience of a remote control making 'lighting the fire' about as easy as one could imagine, a gas-fired fireplace is the epitome of warmth, effeciency and ease-of-use.  We really find that the new technology that allows modulating flame really increases the usefulness of a fireplace.  Just a few short years ago, remote controls equipped with a thermostat would merely turn the fireplace on and off depending on the temperature of the room.  Modulating Flame fireplaces have intelligence programmed into them, so as the room approaches the called-for temperature, the fire's flames turn down instead of off.   The ambience of a fire is preserved, yet the occupants of the room don;t gt baked out of it.  These modern fireplaces will turn down up to 50%.

Come on down to Villa Terrazza, and let us help ypu select the proper solutions for your lifestyle and home to keep you and your family warm!

Heady times here at Villa Terrazza!

Wow!  5 years goes by in a flash!  Much has changed...  Outdoor display area - "The Terrace" patio areas are complete.  New website about to go live.  Lots of new collections about to hit!  Fireplace Training Seminars proving to be a popular addition in our quest to disseminate information, and help folks et the most from their living spaces.  All part of helping you "Furnish your Escape"! 

Come on down to Villa Terrazza right here n Sonoma, see whats new!