Custom Made in the Shade
Taking their rightful place in the top luxury home trends of 2022 are extravagant covered exterior living spaces.
Since "enjoying the great outdoors" here in Texas demands shading your spaces from the relentless sunshine, luxury home designers have outdone themselves with new shade options for 2022.
After two years of staying inside due to COVID-19, people are craving connection with nature more than ever. Gazing out your window in the morning with that first cup of coffee in the morning, you imagine an outdoor oasis. Julius Caesar felt the same way, so he copied his "front porch" from the Greek portico. Precursor of all porches, the portico originated in ancient Greece as a formal framing device that defined an entryway and created an appearance of authority.
We, much like powerful Middle Kingdom Egyptians, have a longing to domesticate the natural world. Although, gardens were expensive to build and required a high level of maintenance, gardens were very popular in the Pharaonic period and were built within wealthy households and royal palaces.
Typical gardens in ancient Egypt shared these essential components: an enclosure wall, a water pond, ornate water well or canal, trees, flowers, vegetables and large shaded areas.
Aside from the mere beauty of modern porches and covered patio / deck areas, they are designed specifically to provide the shade we need to survive the solar onslaught.
Not only do shaded areas protect you from the sun, they also help insulate you from exorbitant summertime electric bills. Porches and covered patios block the sun from shining directly through your windows and heating up your home’s interior.
Let's face it, while shading your home and your guests is definitely the smart move, what we're really after is THE WOW FACTOR.
The luxury, covered outdoor living space designs that TLK has on offer are not your grandmother's back porch or your dad's plastic sheet over a few metal poles, but gorgeous, modern miracles that will fulfill your wildest dreams.
TK and Lisa Kneedler know how to surround your new custom luxury home with all the "wow" you can handle!
Interior Courtyards: Perfectly Private Retreat
For centuries, powerful leaders built their castles and palaces with impenetrable walls surrounding luxurious interior courtyards. Their living quarters were constructed just inside, and against the palace walls as further protection from the hoards outside. No matter what riot or pillaging was going on outside of the walls, the courtyard afforded the owners privacy, safety, and relative tranquility.
Today, custom home builders are once again recreating an oasis in their luxury homes with inner courtyards. When house plans leave an open space surrounded by four or even three walls of a home, they create a perfectly private retreat far from the maddening crowds.
Joining the indoors and outdoors with massive glass doors is another big trend in luxury homes. When opened, these moving walls of glass allow a seamless transition between inside and outside. After decades of delineating the interior and exterior aspects of your home, now you can enjoy the “transterior” benefits of a timeless luxury courtyard. With a talented architect, designer and builder, the possibilities are endless.
Luxury Outdoor Kichens
