Featured Project
Hillside Patio Transformation
A steep, unused hillside reimagined as a curved paver patio with retaining walls, timber terraces, hot tub, and fire pit lounge — designed, engineered, and built in-house.
Location
Central Virginia
Project Type
Design-Build
Grade Change
Steep Hillside
Scope
Walls · Patio · Hot Tub · Fire Pit
The Challenge
A steep grade and a blank slope.
The homeowners had a screened porch with a dream view — and a yard they never used. The hillside dropped steeply from the house, leaving the owners with an unusable slope and no place to entertain outdoors. They wanted a true outdoor living room with a hot tub, a fire pit, and room to host.
The grade meant drainage, retaining walls, and structural work would need to come before any of the visible craft. A multi-phase, multi-material project from the start.
Before & After
Drag to reveal the transformation.
BeforeAfterThe Design
Seen before it was built.
Every Snow Knows project moves through our in-house 3D design process before we set a single stone. The homeowners walked through the finished space — hot tub placement, paver curves, planting bed depths, fire pit scale — and approved every detail before construction began.
“The same team that designed this space set every stone, cut every timber, and planted every shrub. That's the only way to get a result that feels this intentional.”
The Snow Knows Way
The Build
One team, on-site, every day.
Snow Knows crews handled every phase in-house — excavation and grading, drainage, curved retaining walls, timber-step terraces, paver installation, plantings, and lighting. No subcontractor handoffs, no miscommunication.
The Result
A hillside, finally lived in.
The curved paver patio anchors an outdoor living room complete with hot tub, fire pit lounge, and Adirondack seating. Timber steps lead down through structural plantings that soften every wall and stair. A slope that was once unusable now works harder than any room in the house.
Project Scope
What we designed and built.
- Curved dry-stacked retaining walls
- Timber-step terraced garden beds
- Stone-paver patio with curved edges
- Hot tub surround + privacy plantings
- Fire pit seating lounge
- Ornamental grasses, hydrangeas, evergreens
- Full drainage and grading
- Integrated landscape lighting
More Case Studies
Other landscapes we've built.
1800s Farmhouse Pool & New Addition
From signed Snow Knows master plan to drone aerial. Modern outdoor living for an 1800s farmhouse.
Southern Albemarle Modern Farmhouse
Two zones at one hilltop new build — porcelain back patio, outdoor kitchen, mountain fire pit.
Constitution Farm — Scottsville
Heritage Scottsville estate with Williamsburg-style brick parterre — restoration in progress.
Colonial Front Yard Stone Steps
Dry-stacked stone retaining walls and bluestone treads for a classic Central Virginia colonial.
Ready to Start?
Let's talk about yourproperty.
A complimentary consultation with experienced professionals who understand how to bring lasting value and beauty to your landscape. Backed by over a century of craftsmanship.