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LIFE: HOMES
Backyard addition a conventional yet unique deck
Mary MacClellan, of Huntington, turned her backyard into a relaxing retreat with the help of Dale Garrison and his son Matt Garrison. Matt Garrison designed her deck and Dale Garrison built it. MacClellan did the decorating and landscaping.
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HUNTINGTON -- Mary MacClellan has a most unusual deck thanks to her good friend Dale Garrison and his son Matt Garrison.
She recounts how the idea for the deck began.
"Last year we were having a cookout, and I was talking about my plans for a backyard deck," she said. "Matt, who is an engineering student, said 'Let me look at this,' and so he designed it."
The design of the backyard deck molds to the landscape and compliments what was already in place.
Dale Garrison did the actual construction of the deck and said, by design, there's not a square corner on it. All the angles called for every board to be cut and placed according to Matt Garrison's plan.
"I took the plan to Lowe's and they helped me figure how much lumber and supplies I would need," Dale Garrison said.
MacClellan said that part of the project was beyond her but she was there to carry and fetch.
"I was his second pair of hands," she said.
She also did all the staining and painting once the construction was finished.
The deck is placed in the center of MacClellan's hillside backyard. To offset the pitch of the landscape the deck was designed in two levels with a safety rail running across the back and side.
"I wanted to do away with as much of the slope in the yard to make it easier when I was cutting the grass," she said.
Hovering over the backyard deck is an elm tree that helps shade a portion of this relaxing scene. MacClellan made good use of the area under the tree by planting a lovely shade garden colored with annuals and perennials.
Asked why have a deck in the center of the yard, MacClellan quickly explained, "This is a one-floor plan house, and the roofline is low at the back of the house. We just felt it would look like a platform and not enhance the architecture of the house."
From the get-go it was not meant to be a conventional attached deck, and the unique shape offered a visual interest to the yard. While still in the planning stage MacClellan knew once the deck was finished she was going to need some furnishings, so she shopped early.
"She bought the furniture before we started construction," said Dale Garrison, laughing.
MacClellan is a gardener and has surrounded her yard with perennials and shrubs to augment the deck area. Interspersed with baby pine trees are crepe myrtle and ornamental grasses. As these plantings mature they will offer an attractive barrier from the outside world. MacClellan has not restricted her gardener's eye to just inside her fenced yard. Beyond the fenced yard is a ravine where a tree has fallen. She keeps this area manicured, and it makes an attractive vision from the deck area.
"There used to be a city street down there in the 1950s, but the hillside collapsed on it and since it wasn't used that much the city just left it like that," she said.
MacClellan sums it up simply.
"What Dale and I both enjoy the most is that it is done," she said. "We can set out there and relax, eat, play with Bella (the dog). Being outside seeing the birds and all of nature is so very special, and I really appreciate all Dale has done to make this happen. He is a kind person and I am very blessed to have him in my life."
