A: Even in cool San Francisco, buyers want inviting outdoor spaces where they can entertain and relax. The most popular spaces are accessed from a living room, kitchen or family room through glass French doors or sliding doors. The glass doors let in light and provide a view to the outdoors, even when the doors are closed.
San Francisco’s air is famously clean because it is bathed with fresh ocean breezes, making it essential that outdoor spaces are protected from the wind and drizzle. The most sought-after features include comfortable seating, fire pits or warming lamps and outdoor kitchens.
While you’re planning your outdoor space, don’t forget night-time lighting, fragrant plantings and raised bed vegetable gardens. A client recently purchased an inflatable hot tub—easy to install and relatively inexpensive. Another client built a 10-by-10-foot “she-shed” in her backyard, which has a rolling garage-type door that opens to a deck. The structure is electrified but is not plumbed for water, just fine for art projects.
John Solaegui, Compass, 415-999-0673, [email protected].
