Curb Appeal
Drawing Attention Away From a Tiny Back Yard
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Sunday, May 18, 2008
Mary O'Connor hasn't had much trouble getting prospective buyers to hop out and check out her four-bedroom, 2 1/2 -bath home in Leesburg.
It's when they see the back yard that they head back to their cars.
"Everyone has raved about how beautiful the house is, but everyone has equally objected to the back yard," O'Connor said about the property, which is listed for $524,900 -- down more than $10,000 from the original asking price two months ago.
The problem? The house sits on a corner lot of about a fifth of an acre, but nearly all the yard is in the front. The back yard is enclosed with a privacy fence and is largely taken up by a 1,000-plus-square-foot, multi-tier deck built by the previous owner, leaving just a strip of grass between the fence and the deck.
"While I know that having virtually no back yard is a hindrance, it's not totally uncommon in our neighborhood, and houses with equally unusable back yards have recently sold," O'Connor said. But "we also back up to the back of my neighbor's house. Last spring, we planted some trees to help screen the neighbor, but I'm at a loss as to what else to do."
We asked Corinne Lynch, a landscape designer with Lewis Scully Gionet Landscape Architecture in Vienna, for advice on making the back yard more appealing to picky buyers. The job had to cost less than $1,000, assuming that the sellers did most of the work themselves, and it had to be possible to complete in a weekend.
"There isn't really much that can be done about the amount of green space that exists currently in the back yard. However, a great deal can be done to soften the deck," which has great potential for entertaining, Lynch said.
Lynch's suggestions:
· Add more plant material to the space, which would redirect the focus, give more shade and bring the deck into a more favorable scale. "Currently, the space is being architecturally dominated by the home, deck and fence, with the main focus being directed towards the small piece of grass between the deck and fence," Lynch said.
· Add more planters or potted plants to the deck. Use awkward or tight areas that are difficult to use for entertainment purposes.
