Andrea Darr James Maidhof

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• The Place to Be
• The Great Outdoors
• Add some Backyard Bling
• Backyard Bling
• Country Kitchens

While many families struggle to share a meal together at the dinner table, Vicki Ferguson doesn’t seem to have that problem, at least not during the summer when she and her family take up residence at their second home on 20 acres in Stilwell, Kan. The Fergusons have recently completed a backyard space so appealing that her teenage kids actually want to stay at home. Even better, Vicki says, they bring their friends over. “I love it this way because I know where my kids are and I can get to know their friends.”

After a day of lounging at the pool, jumping on the trampoline and riding horses, hungry mouths begin to pipe up, and there’s no better way to satiate an empty stomach in the country than by grilling up some grub.

Vicki’s husband, Scott, turns the dial up on their Fire Magic grill, an outdoor cooking appliance they found at a home show last year. It was exactly what they needed to tie together their plans for their then disheveled and underused backyard. When they bought the house about three years ago, it had an above-ground pool and an English cottage garden. But the decking around the pool was awkward, ending nearly at the pool’s edge and the garden was too much work, not to mention discordant with the home’s lodge-like design. The kitchen element of the yard took root and grew as plans went along.

First, the Fergusons increased the size of the deck and added a tanning deck to the back where the boys would not be able to splash the girls. Next, they hired Brett Barry of Landscape Renderings to design a site plan that would include both hardscaping and landscaping. Vicki’s friend and consultant Laura Lovitt and Ricki Creamer of Red Cedar Country Gardens helped with the overall design and designated the location and types of plants to be used. Everything was to be low maintenance so the Fergusons would spend their time enjoying the pastoral setting. Native plantings in raised boxes, and statues and other ornaments placed and hung among them give variety and visual excitement to the cozy environment.

“The rest of the house is so masculine that I wanted this space to be feminine and serene, the one place I have the ability to control,” Vicki says, although she entrusted all the details to Creamer. “She knows my taste so well she always picks out what I’ll like.”

Barry used flagstones outlined by landscaping timbers to unite the main living space, which includes the covered kitchen, outdoor kitchen, fire pit, and table and chairs. Surrounding this area, instead of grass, he laid multi-colored decorative gravel that is comfortable enough to walk on barefoot and that pulls together the colors of the house and surroundings.

The flagstone extends into the outdoor kitchen in a seamless transition, but Barry first had to suspend the floor because that part of the property dropped two feet. He included a self-draining membrane for spilled drinks or water that makes its way inside to drain right through the floor.

“It completely transitioned from a covered pole barn to this functional, clean space,” Barry says. “It went from blocking the wind to a full kitchen.”

Though the Fergusons are quite happy with it now, Scott Ferguson originally had other ideas. He wanted to build a basic shack to cover the grill, but the idea “took on a life of its own,” Vicki says. The simple structure gave way to a full kitchen, complete with a full-size refrigerator, a trash compactor, an ice maker, a sink, granite countertops and plenty of cabinets for storing snacks. It would have been larger and more suited to furnishings but the placement of the septic system limited it.

The design of the building, by Landscape Renderings and built by Jeff Fiocati Contractors, emulates the house and other outbuildings with their red metal roofs and cedar siding. A sliding barn door opens to the inside and a crank-style garage door over a bar top allows food and drinks to pass through.

Outdoors, under the open sky, is the stainless steel gas grill with side burners. The appliances are placed atop a stone base that features red sandstone countertops from Sturgis Materials. The edge is cantilevered so bar stools can be set up next to the grill.

“We’ve used the grill all summer for steaks, ribs and burgers. The side burner is great for corn on the cob,” Vicki says. “I think we’ll probably use it even more in the fall.”

As Kansas City churns through its cold season cycle, and most homeowners close up and head indoors, the Fergusons may be sharing the year’s most famous family meal together from the grill — it has a spit, perfect for roasting a Thanksgiving turkey.