San Francisco and the Bay Area are a gardener's paradise with summers moderated by the coastal climate for comfortable outdoor living almost year around. Just take a look at the gardens in Golden Gate Park to see just how much plants like this environment too. But gardens are for people, and this area includes many of the finest residential landscapes in the West. Nurtured by plentiful winter rainfall, virtually any home can be the genesis of a spectacular new, outdoor space.

For those homes in The City where ground is worth its weight in gold, small spaces need top notch designers to work everything you want into limited yards. Here are great challenges and opportunities to bring interiors of every stripe into the exterior spatial design and accessories. Mark Twain once said, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." This defines the greatest challenge of all, to modify climate through good design to yield comfortable outdoor places for people within the most densely built city in California.

The long history of East Bay nurseries around U.C. Berkeley includes many of the finest specialty growers of spectacular plants and here too is a compliment of highly skilled designers and contractors. Restoration of old Victorian homes and Craftsman bungalows in Oakland, Fremont, and Walnut Creek deserve an equally detailed landscape. These and tracts built after the War feature yards large enough for the full compliment of amenities from outdoor kitchens to swim-spas. But when the fog rolls in toward evening, there is no question that an outdoor fireplace or a fire pit is essential for expanding all outdoor living spaces into an everyday thing.

In the wilds of the North Bay lie small Sausalito homes with their high end postage stamp gardens. Here too are homes nestled in the folds of Mount Tamalpais and the Marin Headlands where conditions are perfect for creating patios with spectacular views or meditative spaces sequestered within the redwood forest glades.

The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most expensive places in America to purchase a home. It's well worth the investment to provide a great place for gathering and dining in style, which also raises the overall value of your home. Hiring a quality designer and reputable detail oriented contractors is essential to this process, because when it comes time to write the check, you'll know every outdoor living dollar was spent wisely.