Well, summer 2025 is almost a wrap, and we used the heck out of the yard since we finished in spring. It’s a pretty ridiculous property at this point. We know how lucky we are, and it feels most like the home we always dreamt of (when we lived in NY and LA) when there are at least 6-10 kids running around, four men playing corn hole and a bunch of ladies gabbing. While we aren’t DONE done, we have checked so many boxes that were big construction, and the rest of the rehab can be done WAYYYY over time. These photos were taken at different times over the summer (we shot different areas in different months), so you’ll see the plants grow in, etc.

We thought it would be fun to show you the whole property layout from above because it can be confusing to know how it flows. We have about 2.75 acres, mostly usable and flat with pockets of extreme overgrowth that we aren’t touching for a bit.

The Driveway/Entrance

Walking down the driveway felt magical 5 years ago, and we still love it. It’s full of invasives (Hawthorne trees lining both sides, ivy, and blackberry everywhere), but I can’t bring myself to get rid of it all – it’s too much of a project right now, and we’d lose so much of the rustic nature. If money were no object and if we could just snap our fingers, would we clear it all out and plant big beautiful non-invasive trees and clover? Sure! But it’s pretty great for now.

It’s funny, people in Oregon don’t find the driveway nearly as charming as our California friends when they visit (they don’t say anything, you can just tell). Everyone from other states reacts consistently like we did – so green, so rustic, so charming, but I think if you’ve lived here for decades, it’s just an old-looking long Oregon driveway:)

Once you round the driveway, you get the reveal of the house, which always strikes me as WAY more “adult” of a house than I ever thought I’d own. As the chronically 27-year-old that I feel inside, this still feels wild that it’s ours. I really, really love her so much.

I love seeing the covered walkway at the end of the driveway – still one of my favorite features. You MUST slide the before/after slider below – it’s so satisfying and pretty wild to see where it came from 4+ years ago.

To the left of the driveway is the grove of fruit trees that are in such sad shape over grass that is full of weeds (and brown now as it has no irrigation).

Since this part of the property is so front and center, this might be somewhere we tackle next spring – bring in a proper arborist to trim and heal these trees (they are sooooo overgrown, crowded, and don’t bear the best fruit). We have plums, pears, and apples. Then I think we’d demo out the unhappy lawn and seed for clover. Simple, but better, and have everything be healthier. It actually looks fine in the winter/spring, but by the end of summer, it looks like kindling.

This is the view that you see the most of the house – and I still want to rework the plants here – the grasses are MASSIVE and unruly, but nothing seems to really grow well here besides that! We have since trimmed the Japanese maple that was looking pretty dang wild along the house. Dennis’ 7 Dees had some great ideas of what they would do, but we are pausing on execution for a bit (we also wonder/know that any construction at the guest cottage might be hard on the surrounding plants).

I really love the vibe of the back – all the hydrangeas make me so happy, so I’d love to bring some of those up here. Just something with more structure and lose those wild grasses (that are awesome, but just MASSIVE).

This is the view most people have when they enter (because most neighbors/friends come through the back gate). Having the garages all done means that people aren’t staring at all our trash, recycling, and compost bins upon entry. Seriously, a HUGE win as those things are such eyesores.

The guest house is up next – I’m dragging my feet a bit right now (mostly nervous financially – it’s such a beast!) but it’s moving forward, I promise!

The cutest 4-car garage ever (that is full of props). You should know that all those plants were there for the shoot, but without irrigation, I knew they wouldn’t last (too far from the house for a hose to even reach). As a content creator with partners, it’s our job to create the prettiest photos for their usage, thus adding those pretty hydrangeas and the bench. But for those of you worried if the plants are all still alive, they are! Just on the front porch now (actually, I think two of them didn’t make it – sorry).

Rounding the front of the sunroom, you get into what feels like the backyard – a big patch of grass that gets a ton of play from kids and cornhole, and is the entertaining hub.

Many a game of Ghosts in the Garden has been played here after dark (no idea what it is or how it’s played, but the group of 16 kids that play sure do seem to have fun).

Maybe someday I’ll paint and attach the wood post cap on the mudroom entrance 🙂

Over the long weekend, we spent all three nights in the pool – first night when it was super hot out (water was 75 degrees) and then the next two nights we turned it into a 95-degree hot tub, which we all stayed in for hours. There are times when I can recognize the kids would likely play longer in a big pool, but we still LOVE that it can be a hot tub and is used more year-round.

We usually have two umbrellas shading the pool (the stones can get super super hot), but they wouldn’t stand up straight for these photos, so we nixed them (there is a real hole in the heavy-duty umbrella stand on castors market, BTW – they all get so rusted and then crooked!).

She’s a small pool, but we love her so much. Soake Pools is the company if you weren’t here when I was documenting it – see this post here!

I really failed at the garden this year – overplanted, got greedy, and everything grew into each other. Plus, what did get harvested didn’t really taste that good! Ballerina Farms, I am not, Lol. Next year, I’m going to try harder and likely turn at least one of the beds into a pretty cutting garden. Plus, the truth is that some of the best organic produce comes from a few miles away in Oregon, and we simply prefer their lettuce and tomatoes over ours – it just tastes so much better and stays for much longer in the fridge.

We moved those chairs to the pickleball court for people to watch close by. I love that they are all-weather and we can keep them out year-round (not real wicker, it’s the all-weather wicker).

One of the changes we are going to make is turning at least one of the picnic tables into a seating area. I noticed that at all three huge parties we had that people don’t like to sit on these – maybe they feel too locked in? So I brought down the seating from the back porch and BOOM, people sit down and are much more comfortable.

So next spring, I’ll likely add a more conversational seating area where the bottom picnic table is. It’s so nice to have them there right now.

I believe they are going to reseed the clover on the left of the path soon – it didn’t take because we didn’t water it as much, and then the pickleball cover guys put all their stuff on a big tarp over there and killed the clover that was growing. No biggie, but we’ll add more.

The rest of the clover is THRIVING, by the way. Hopefully it doesn’t take over in a way that we’ll regret 🙂

Remember when this was a broken asphalt tennis court?

The Trampoline…

So this photo really pained Kaitlin to take, but I wanted to show you how we actually use the yard – and that trampoline was the MVP this summer (I don’t need to tell all you parents out there). I’m still glad that we didn’t install it into the ground (we can move it around for shoots, which is great), and it’s a massive eyesore, but they genuinely love jumping – solo or with friends.

The tumble track also gets a ton of use by the cheer crew. This side yard is where all the kids gravitate (and the sports court), and we can easily keep an eye on them from both the kitchen and the backyard.

This part of the yard was what we finished first and could probably use some editing, but I love all the wild, tall perennials here – Studio Campo and Yardzen were both a part of this side yard. The kitchen patio is looking a little less happy than when we shot it, so I might spruce it up with more plants this spring. We don’t really sit out here much, but it’s a nice vibe to greet you (Brian jokes that he wants a ping pong table here for flip cup, which I think we both know got nixed). Also, yes, the dogs pee on the lawn and leave yellow spots! Rude!

I still want to plant more climbers on the covered walkway. I planted some more mature clematis last year, and they started taking off when they caught “scales” which had to be eradicated.

Here we are back at the front. It’s a lot of property and, of course, a lot to maintain (which we have help from Dennis’ 7 Dees). I’m sure it will morph over time, and we’ll pare things back when they get a bit overgrown or add more when we see what is really thriving. We love it so much and feel extremely grateful to live here. We worked with many local experts to get this far, and they deserve more call-outs – A huge thanks to Studio Campo and Northwest Native Landscapes (phase one), and most recently Dennis’ 7 Dees for such incredible execution. My hope is to take photos of every season so you can see the seasonal change, but don’t hold me to it – shooting here in January is pretty brutal and unpleasant (although so lush and green). But fall is around the corner, so I’ll try to show you how it looks when the leaves change and things start getting cut back or dying out. That’s a wrap:)

Here are all the individual posts for the reveals and a couple of process ones (in case you wanted to deep dive!):

• 2023: Our Back Patio Reveal
• 2023: Our Very Cute Front Porch Makeover
• 2023: Our Farmhouse Back Porch Reveal – The “1st Summer” Edition!
• 2023: Our Soake Pool Review (And Reveal)
• 2023: Our New Driveway – A Gravel/Concrete/Asphalt/Regrind Debate
• 2023: The FULL Before And After Backyard Makeover
• 2024: Our Home Gym Reveal
• 2024: Our Back Porch Reveal
• 2024: Our Outdoor Living Room + Firepit Area
• 2024: The Art Barn Reveal
• 2024: The Art Barn Floral Mural
• 2025: Our Built-To-Last Outdoor Kitchen Reveal
• 2025: BIG Landscaping Update – Phase 2 Is Done
• 2025: Why We Chose A Clover Lawn Instead Of Grass
• 2025: My New Prop Garage Reveal
• 2025: We Found The Best Garage Doors Ever
• 2025: Our Regrind Driveway Review
• 2025: A Front Of House Tour
• 2025: Our 2025 Summer Landscaping Reveal
• 2025: The Carriage House Exterior “Before” Tour
• 2025: The First Tour Inside Our 1850s Carriage House
• 2025: The Pickleball Court Reveal

*Photos by Kaitlin Green