In a tiny urban backyard, a family of six with four active kids needed their outdoor space to work overtime – fitting a plunge pool, putting green, dining area, and lush gardens into a footprint where most people would struggle to place a single feature. The design treats every square foot as precious real estate, stacking functions vertically and horizontally to create distinct zones that feel generous despite the compact scale. A sleek plunge pool provides summer relief without dominating the yard, while a putting green gives the kids (and adults) a place to practice their short game. Corten steel retaining walls define the space with clean, modern lines while their vertical presence maximizes usable ground area. New French doors replace the old back wall, visually expanding the interior and creating seamless flow between kitchen and pool.

Tupelo patio stone grounds the dining area with natural warmth and durability – a material that can handle the traffic of four kids running in and out while maintaining its beauty through Minnesota's freeze-thaw cycles. Gardens weave between the hardscape elements, softening edges and providing pockets of green that make the space feel less hardscaped than it actually is. The result is a masterclass in urban space planning – proving that a small lot doesn't mean choosing between amenities, it means being smarter about how they coexist. This family got their pool, their putting green, their gardens, and their gathering space, all without the yard feeling cramped or compromised.