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This time of year means one thing to Tom Festa of Fesco Fence in West Nyack, N.Y.

"Springtime is gazebo season," Festa says. "You spent the winter cooped up, and now you want to go to your yard."

A gazebo is one way to enjoy that yard even more. It's a place to hold a family picnic or savor your morning coffee. It could overlook a pool, complement a garden or extend the deck.

"It finishes off the yard," says Pat Acocella Jr. of Acorn Farm and Garden Center in Harrison, N.Y.

Festa agrees that it adds something extra.

"It's one of those things that you do sort of after everything else is done ... a luxury item, an afterthought," he says.

But this year, it's being thought of more often, says Carla Wheaton, a senior member of the garden department of The Home Depot in Brewster, N.Y.

Putting in a gazebo can have long-term benefits, too.

"I definitely think they're going to beef up real-estate values," Wheaton says. When it comes time to sell a home, "people usually get all of their money back and more on these products. ... You pull up to a house, and it just looks like a pleasant place to be, and that's going to boost your property values."

As with any construction project, consult your town or city to see whether any permits are required - and then, explore your options.

Customize away

Festa says a gazebo is a strong decorative element.

"It's a centerpiece of your landscaping," he says. "Your eye is naturally attracted to that gazebo."

At Fesco, staff members will discuss size choices (depending on how it will be used), materials (red cedar or pine) and decorative elements.

Decorative elements include floor patterns, benches, screens, cupolas -- even a swinging bench suspended from the ceiling.

All woods are treated with protective sealants to combat damage from sun and water.

"If you don't put anything on it, it's going to weather and turn gray," Festa says.

Costs for gazebos vary. A typical 10-foot hexagon-shaped gazebo in cedar will be $4,342, while the same size in pine would be $3,745, Festa says. The gazebos also come in 8- and 12-foot styles, with custom creations available.

Practical, yet stylish

Customers sometimes seek a gazebo for the simplest of reasons, says Acocella of Acorn Farms: "They don't have shade in their yard."

The gazebo helps them carve out a place to entertain.

Options include wood (pressure-treated pine or Western red cedar) and vinyl.

"In recent years, they came out with all these vinyl products," Acocella says.

Once the basics are in place, then customers can choose custom touches. Cabanas and pavilions along pools are among the newest options. Acorn features gazebos from a half-dozen manufacturers. An 8-foot wooden model could run from $2,500 to $10,000, with most averaging around $3,800.

Plenty of options

Choices at Home Depot range from kits that homeowners build themselves to ones that are installed. Prices vary as well, with prices starting at $1,500 and going to almost $5,000.

The options are available in vinyl or treated cedar.

Most popular are the 10- or 12-foot Amish original vinyl gazebos from Sheds USA.

Other options include a San Marino round gazebo from Handy Home or that company's Monterey oval, both 10-foot models.

The company can have them installed as quickly as two weeks, with same-day, on-site assembly.

There also are aluminum, free-standing gazebos "for someone who doesn't have quite that much money and still wants to ... enjoy their backyard," Wheaton says.

These feature weather-resistant fabric covers and range from about $200 to $500.

"This really allows almost anyone to have a gazebo in their backyard if they want one."

Gannett News Service

Tom Festa, left, president of Fesco Fence in West Nyack, and Matt Poole, president of Fesco Fence of Westchester, display a gazebo in West Nyack, N.Y., on May 1, 2008. A gazebo is one way to enjoy that yard even more.

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Gannett News Service

Tom Festa, president of Fesco Fence in West Nyack, displays a gazebo in West Nyack, N.Y., on May 1, 2008. A gazebo is one way to enjoy that yard even more.

Purchase this photo