For Sean Kelley, there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing a design he’s worked on come to fruition. This passion led him to found Ardent Outdoor Living, a landscaping and design firm based in North Bethesda.
Kelley says he always loved to create, and his mother was an artist, but his interests always lie in building more than drawing or sculpting. So he pursued a career in engineering, though he wasn’t able to finish school due to complications from concussions he had sustained during his childhood. But he was adept at working with his hands and soon secured a job at a design firm.
Before founding his own company, “I started working for another company where I was able to sell my designs,” Kelley recalls. “I really developed a passion for that — seeing what I designed actually come to fruition, seeing the excitement from the client and being along for the ride the entire way.”
Ardent Outdoor Living is best-known for its work building custom fiberglass pools. For this project, though, Kelley wanted to convert a backyard that its owners weren’t getting much use out of into a “backyard resort.”
Kelley notes that an important part of the process is having his clients onboard for every step, from initial designs to the final build, so they don’t need to have additional work done later to correct errors or regrets.
“I really felt for my clients, who have sometimes had to pay for the same service twice because they hadn’t gotten it done right the first time,” he says.
Here Comes the Sun
The location of the home and the owner’s requests posed an interesting challenge for Kelley. The homeowner said that the backyard gets so much sunlight during the day that it becomes nearly unusable because of the glare.
The solution? A louvered pergola that allows the homeowner to control the amount of sunlight hitting their porch while still serving as a chic place to sit and enjoy a drink.
“It allows the sun to actually filter through, so you can get some light, but not as much of the heat [from the sun],” Kelley explains. “You can also close the curtains on the sides of the pergola, which are screens. It even has heaters inside, which gives the homeowners more usage out of the space during the offseason.”
In the Zone
In order to make the backyard feel like it’s bigger than it actually is, Kelley didn’t expand the space in any way, but split it into different zones. Different parts of the yard sit at different elevations and serve different functions. In addition to the shaded patio area, there’s a bar area, a hot tub area and a firepit.
Kelley says this is a trick he often uses in his projects.
“[The client] asked me to create a space in the backyard that they could use and entertain with,” He explains. “They wanted it to not just have a big patio but for it to have different zones that create a sense of a larger space. You have a firepit area, you have a bar area and you have a patio area for lounging.”
He adds that an important consideration for him when he makes these backyard projects is ensuring they fit in with the rest of the existing house.
“I just love the collective, how everything is put together,” he says. “I try to address my clients’ wants and needs while still keeping the projects in line with the design of the house, so they don’t decrease the value. You don’t want to go too far out of the box. You might love the design, but a future homeowner may not.”
