Go Play Outside: Backyards That Push Boundaries

Welcome to our annual celebration of porches, patios, and brilliant backyards.

Community-supported agriculture programs boomed during the pandemic, but the seeds were cultivated decades beforehand.

Everything in our roundup of the latest accoutrements for your patio came from the films we insist are warm weather classics. (Yes, even “Blue Crush.”)

Decades after he launched the revered counterculture almanac, Stewart Brand and his wife, Ryan Phelan, turned a derelict ship into a home on San Francisco Bay.

Settle into a chaise in this groovy oasis with original artwork and colorful details.

In a state that has been wracked by extreme weather, an architect decided to build smaller and hire an expert for an innovative outdoor space.

The landscape architect created lush outdoor hangout zones that mirror the home’s interior.

Three people tell us how they transformed unused space in their communities, and how you can too.

The radically open, surprisingly meditative house is covered in gardens from top to bottom.

Naeem Biviji and Bethan Rayner of Studio Propolis recycled materials and DIY’ed construction to build their Nairobi retreat.

It had all the right original details for their dream renovation, but first they had to convince the feuding owners to sell it.

We may be more obsessed than ever with structures that refuse to grow up—even as their foundations become increasingly threatened.

An appliance update turned into a full-on remodel in this Portland, Oregon, family's home.

Some just-for-fun photo shoots ended up shifting her perspective on the power of light.

In Los Angeles, Joy Cho builds a colorful creative studio a stone’s throw from her family’s hillside residence.

Mulmur Hills Farm by Turkel Design is a spectacular response to a couple’s desire for multigenerational living that illustrates the potential of prefab architecture.

Kolbe Windows & Doors frames new ways of living.