Los Angeles. The ideal landscape reflects its region and takes advantage of the site's best features. This property overlooking the San Gabriel Mountains achieves both. When designer Mia Lehrer took on the project, much of the narrow backyard (with a steep drop-off at its rear) was occupied by a two-car garage and a huge expanse of concrete. Overgrown shrubs blocked the view.

Inspired by the owner's collection of modernist indoor furniture, Lehrer developed a sleek design that pairs industrial materials with colors that reflect the region's blue skies and dramatic sunsets. The mottled blue wall visually connects the pool to the sky. Surrounding the 40-foot-long, angled pool is a lawn of fine-bladed fescue, which doesn't require mowing.

DESIGN: Mia Lehrer + Associates, Los Angeles (