Great
Gazebos
by Stephen Whitlock
 Say "gazebo" and
what springs to most people's mind is an octagonal white
garden building at the end of a long sweep of lawn. Although
many gazebos do fit this traditional gingerbread-trimmed
image, today's versions are just as likely to be square,
rectangular, or round; have sleek lines; and sit close
to the house, to encourage outdoor dining. They can even
be built right into a porch or onto a deck, patio, or
pool surround.
For Kathryn Keele, a homeowner in Pasadena,
California, the formal redwood gazebo in the rose garden
just steps from her Tudor-style house is a welcoming
retreat. "It's very peaceful and private, but because
it has lights and stereo speakers built in it's also
wonderful for entertaining. We can squeeze six chairs
around the table, but it's comfortable with four," she
says of the 12-foot-wide pavilion painted deep hunter
green.
(above right: Kathryn Keele's gazebo
in Pasadena, California, has a louvered roof and a
raised brick floor for a good view of the rose garden.
A pendant light fixture and built-in stereo speakers
encourage entertaining. Photo: Mark Lohman)
A gazebo is generally defined as a
freestanding, open-sided structure with a solid roof
and (usually) a floor, though designers are constantly
reinterpreting the form. While traditionally made of
wood, gazebos also can be built of metal, stone, or even
reinforced concrete. Cedar and redwood are top wood choices
for their stability and weather resistance, and both
can be painted or left unfinished. Pressure-treated lumber
is a less expensive option, but it should be covered
with a semitransparent stain. Floors, which are often
raised by one or two steps, may be wood, brick, concrete,
or stone. Most often, the roof is clad in cedar shakes,
though other materials, including copper and slate, may
be used, particularly to echo that detail of the main
house.
There are three basic approaches to
putting up a gazebo: building one from a set of plans,
putting together a kit, or commissioning an original
design.
 Building
one from scratch requires excellent carpentry skills—and
a good set of plans. Gazebos & Other Outdoor Structures
(Creative Homeowner, $15) is an excellent resource for
those with the requisite experience. This Old House master
carpenter Norm Abram built a screened 8-foot-wide gazebo
suitable for a pair of benches or Adirondack chairs;
plans ($15) are available from the New Yankee Workshop
(www.newyankee.com).
A more manageable do-it-yourself approach is to assemble
a gazebo from a kit. If you don't have the time or inclination
to put it together yourself, hiring a contractor to do
it for you can still be a good way to get a quality structure
built quickly. Expect to pay $500 and up for labor, plus
the cost of the foundation.
(above left: Victorian-era octagonal
structures —and a narrow Seattle lot—inspired
the gazebo bump-out on Rich and Cathy Gaspar's porch.
It's turned columns complement their 1908 house, and
the continuous roofline provides additional all-weather
living space. Photo: Susan Seubert)
Commissioning a gazebo isn't necessarily
more expensive than buying and assembling a high-quality
kit (they start at $2,000 to $3,000 for a 6- to 8-footer),
and it allows you to get a truly customized design. For
example, Paul Blazek, a landscape designer in San Francisco,
designed an 11-foot-square gazebo with a wooden potting
bench and plumbed copper sink inside. The green-stained
cedar structure serves both as a working area in a raised-bed
garden and as a gathering place for a family with young
children. Joan Honeyman, a landscape architect in Washington,
D.C., recently built a 17-foot- square gazebo attached
to her client's house by a matching arbor—and wired
it for high-speed Internet access so it could serve as
an alfresco home office.
Article reprinted with permission from www.thisoldhouse.com.
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