6 minute read
West
Patio Season for any
West enjoys year-round outdoor living
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Acold front didn’t keep Kim West’s guests from enjoying a New Year’s Day brunch on the patio.
“It started out really warm, then a front kind of came through, and so we turned on the heaters, and it was fine,” West recalled.
A new all-weather patio cover with heaters and fans allows West to entertain guests — or enjoy solitude — outdoors any time of year.
West said the idea came when a good friend of hers insisted she get a patio cover.
By Cathy Spaulding • Photos by Mandy Corbell
A stone fireplace and a pergola featuring ceiling fans and heaters enables Kim West to enjoy the outdoors no matter what time of year it is.
The back porch features a cozy setting around a stone fireplace.
“Johnny Broome is a master with working with metal,” West said. “I just kind of told him what I had in mind and he did it.... He just designed the whole thing and did it for me.”
Broome built an arching metal frame over the patio. Clear fiberglass panels stretching over the arch let the sun shine in while protecting from rain and other elements.
— Kim West
West said Broome ordered and installed ceiling fans for summer coolness and infrared heaters for winter warmth. Sconces on the support columns add nighttime light.
The patio cover was installed about a year and a half ago, just in time for a Christmas 2019 meal and that New Year’s
West’s backyard is expertly landscaped.
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An evening on the West patio is sure to include wine and hors d’oeuvres.
West keeps a variety of herbs close by in raised beds.
Day 2020 brunch.
Broome also expanded the patio’s stone fireplace, West said, adding that the fireplace originally was terra cotta-colored stucco with only a firebox. He doubled the width by adding a firewood box, then covered the fireplace with stone blocks, she said.
West uses the fireplace often.
“This is where everyone wants to come
— Kim West
when it’s cooler,” she said. “You’ve got the fire and you’ve got the infrared heater.”
She said she also enjoys coming out there alone. She can press a remote and a wide screen TV rises from a cabinet behind patio chairs. Broome made that cabinet, as well.
He also crafted a swirly metal sculpture that sits on West’s patio.
West said Broome originally donated the sculpture for an auction benefiting Kids’ Space.
“I was not the top bidder. A good friend of mine was the top bidder and she said, “I
ABOVE: Hydrangeas pop like colorful balls beside a waterfall.
RIGHT: Raised herb gardens feature plenty of variety, including mint. Johnny Broome made a swirly sculpture.
know that would look good on your patio,’” West said. “It was for charity and she paid a lot of money for it, and she let me have it.”
The backyard had always been an oasis since Louie Mosteller custom built the house in 2004, West said.
Parts of her backyard were landscaped in 2008.
“At one point, we had a hot tub back here, but nobody ever really used the hot tub,” she said.
Nearly all the plants came from Blossoms, owned by Matthew Weatherbee and Lora Durkee, West said. In fact, she said she’s “babysitting” some of the plants for Weatherbee and Durkee.
Part of West’s patio features the best of the desert — a bowl of succulents behind a love seat, various types of cacti including prickly pear. Larger plants are agave from Arizona.
“You don’t have to water them that much,” she said.
Black vessels on the floor hold lantana.
Hydrangeas with blooming purple balls surround a waterfall fountain, where West’s dog Myah likes to play. Kevin Randall designed the waterfall, West said.
Crape myrtles grow along the other side of the fireplace.
ABOVE: Succulents abound in West’s back patio.
BOTTOM: A large agave plant spreads its leaves.
Myah loves the water in West’s backyard waterfall.
West enjoys growing herbs to enhance her cooking. She grows them in two selfwatering herb beds. She grows thyme, basil, rosemary, parsley, sage, sweet peppers, dill, marjoram, oregano and mint.
“You can fill them up and you can be gone for two weeks,” she said. “That’s the best part of summer and being able to grow your own herbs.”
And, yes, West said she often cooks outside. She has a Napoleon natural gas grill, where she grills steak, seafood. She uses a Hasty Bake for her charcoal grilling. “We have everything, we have bobcats. We have deer all the time, We have eagles because we’re not very far from the river, lots of raccoons and possums.”
— Kim West
“There are so many things you can use a grill for,” she said.
Beyond the backyard, wildlife can be seen moving in from a row of trees.
“We have everything, we have bobcats. We have deer all the time, We have eagles because we’re not very far from the river, lots of raccoons and possums,” she said. “All those things that comes with living kind of in the country.”
ABOVE: Visitors can enjoy outdoor dining any time of year on the back porch.
RIGHT: A variety of plants provide a natural border between the back porch and backyard.
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