A Garden Wall

I always thought a garden wall's purpose was to offer seclusion, safety and a delineation of property...at least, that's what I thought when we lived in the suburbs.

Here, in the desert, the wall does offer some seclusion and safety, but few Borregan's would attempt to wall their entire property, where lots are measured in whole and half acres! Here is where the concept of the inner garden makes sense. A small area, created to give privacy, offer intimate living space, a place to grow flowers and vegetables, a place to swim and relax...exactly what we planned when deciding upon how much space we actually needed for those activities...but the most important feature the wall should provide, for us, was access to all the views offered by this unique desert place...huge never ending vistas of mountains and desert.

The County building code helped us achieve this goal by requiring an elevated "pad" for each new dwelling. That simple requirement enabled us to construct the wall at a lower level than the house, which takes full advantage of the views!

Voila! Problem solved.