living — Washington, DC

Q-Street Garden

The Q Street Garden is a curated space for outdoor furniture, neon artwork, and layered green textures.

The clients are avid collectors of mid-century modern furniture. While most pieces live inside the townhouse, a select group of outdoor furnishings needed an intentional setting. An ipe deck provides a warm, durable platform for the Walter Lamb table and chairs, and discreetly integrates a new pneumatic access hatch to the lower-level storage area.

A new neon sculpture, RISE by Ivan Navarro, creates a luminous focal point along the rear brick wall. To expand planting opportunities, the existing brick planter was removed, and the wall was painted white to reflect more light into the space and heighten contrast with a richer palette of trees, shrubs, perennials, and climbing vines.

At the lower level, new granite pavers form a flexible seating terrace and connect back to the deck via a series of floating platforms, strengthening circulation and creating multiple moments to pause, gather, and engage with the garden.

Photos by Kate Wichlinski unless noted otherwise.

A round yellow illuminated sculpture mounted on the rear facade above a planted terrace on Q Street NW

The Q Street courtyard before renovation: bare brick walls, a board fence, and plain stone paving

Existing Conditions

The existing conditions were anchored by a mature Japanese maple, a small fountain that no longer functioned, and a narrow brick planter bed. The garden had limited planting opportunities and lacked a clear focal point.

A narrow Washington rowhouse courtyard with an ipe deck, cafe table, and a young tree against the painted rear wall

A woman stands in the doorway of a Washington rowhouse looking out over the courtyard deck and its cafe seating

Concept Sketches

As part of our design process, Moody Graham studies several Schematic Design alternatives for the layout and organization of the garden.

Concept sketch of the Q Street courtyard exploring a deck, planting bed, and tree canopy within the narrow lot

Concept sketch of the Q Street courtyard with a circular water feature set into the paved terrace

Concept sketch of the Q Street courtyard with a broad wooden deck and a green wall along the property line

Concept sketch of the Q Street courtyard studying paving layout, tree placement, and the transition from house to garden

Concept sketch of the Q Street courtyard with a densely planted bed filling most of the walled lot

Vine-covered walls enclose a small Q Street courtyard with a black metal bench, white chairs, and rowhouses rising beyond

An illuminated round wall sculpture glows above the stone path and planting in the Q Street courtyard at dusk

Bluestone steps with recessed lighting rise past ferns to the dining terrace in the Q Street courtyard

Layered Garden

Winner of the Land F/X Residential Photography Contest, this urban garden uses layers of planting and lighting to create a dramatic atmosphere, prompting one judge to note, “I’m impressed by the depth and variety in a very small space.”