"Romano Designs to new heights"

     House, March/ April 2008

     T he concrete  patio of the back of the house was for an average house- and that was the problem. The home-owner's existing patio had just enough space for a table and four chairs so they called Romano Landscaping to create the backyard they longed for: one that would complement their lifestyle, occupy thier four active children and provide a scenic and serene landscape.

     Thier two-acre home is located on one of the highest points on Long Island and the back of the property sloped upward at a sharp angle. As a result, the homeowners had to address the steep sloping of the area, while wanting everything to look as if it had been there for a long time.

     Deep excavations into the backyard hillside and a retaining wall in excess of 200 feet in length and over 20 fewet high were required. The homeowners were concered that such a large retaining wall would detroy the serenity of the site.

     To address this, Romano Landscaping divided the yard into several areas: a pool with a cascading 24-foot waterfall with a grotto, a built-in hot tub with a river flowing into the pool, a tennis court, a patio off the back of the house.

     Individual Stone was used to cover the poured concrete retaining wall, and the hot tub and grotto integrate seamlessly into the other end of the retaining wall. To one side, the stone-faced retainig wall provides a pictureque backdrop to the tennis court and basketball area. Stone was cleverly used to create seating areas around the stonework throughout the backyard and create an old-world ambience more likly found in Tuscany than Long island.