St. Francis Wood was laid out as a planned garden suburb, and that origin still shapes every yard in the neighborhood. The lots are large by San Francisco standards, the streets curve and step with the hillside, and the houses lean Mediterranean and Tudor with a few other period-revival styles mixed in. When a homeowner here asks for landscape design and outdoor living, the brief is rarely "tidy up the backyard." It is usually how to give a 1920s-era stucco-and-tile house a terrace, a level lawn, mature planting, and an evening gathering space that reads as if it has always been there.
New Key Construction is a Bay Area design-build firm. We design and build landscape and outdoor living projects for St. Francis Wood homes under one roof, which means the people who draw your garden are the same people accountable for pouring the patio and setting the stone.
What St. Francis Wood homeowners actually want outside
The homes here were built to a coherent architectural vocabulary, so the landscape has to answer the house rather than fight it. In practice, the requests we hear most often in St. Francis Wood are some version of the same short list:
- A usable, level outdoor room carved out of a sloping lot, often a terrace or stepped patio off the main living floor.
- Mediterranean-appropriate planting, drought-aware but lush, that suits a stucco-and-tile or half-timbered facade.
- Privacy and screening from neighbors and street without walling off the garden suburb feel the neighborhood is known for.
- An outdoor kitchen, fireplace, or dining terrace for the long stretch of mild Bay Area evenings.
- Front-yard and entry work that respects the formal, planned character of the street.
Because lots here are deep and frequently graded, the hard part is almost never the plant list. It is the grading, the retaining, the drainage, and the transitions between levels. That is structural work, and it is exactly where a landscape-only designer hands you off to a separate contractor and hopes the two plans agree.
The design-build difference
We do not hand you off. New Key runs design and build as one team, so the grading plan, the retaining walls, the drainage, the hardscape, and the planting are all drawn and delivered by the same firm. Three things follow from that:
- One team for design and build. The designer who shapes your terrace is in the room with the crew who builds it, so the detail you fell in love with survives into the finished yard.
- Priced options up front. Before you commit, you see real options with real numbers attached, so the choice between a flagstone terrace and a poured concrete one is a decision you make with the cost in front of you, not a surprise on an invoice later.
- 3D renderings before permits. We model your outdoor living space in 3D so you can walk through the terrace, the planting, and the sightlines before a single permit application goes in. That is when changes are cheap and easy, on screen, not in the ground.
The St. Francis Wood planning reality
St. Francis Wood is a planned neighborhood with its own design expectations, and exterior work that is visible from the street is the kind most likely to draw scrutiny. Two practical realities shape an outdoor project here.
First, the neighborhood carries long-standing design standards tied to its garden-suburb origins, layered on top of the City of San Francisco's normal permitting. Anything that changes the front, the street-facing facade, or visible structures tends to attract more review than work tucked behind the house. Retaining walls above a certain height, new decks, drainage that ties into the public system, and any grading on a hillside lot are the items that commonly require permits in San Francisco, and they show up constantly in St. Francis Wood landscapes because the lots are sloped.
Second, the realistic path is to design with that review in mind from the start rather than discover it midway. We map which parts of your scope are likely to need City review and which fall under the neighborhood's design expectations, then sequence the work so approvals do not stall the build. We will tell you plainly where a project is straightforward and where it needs patience. We do not promise a specific timeline or fee, because those depend on your exact scope and the City's queue, and we would rather set an honest expectation than a convenient one.
How a project runs
A St. Francis Wood landscape project with us follows a consistent path. We start with a site visit to read the grade, the drainage, the existing planting, and how the house meets the yard. We develop a concept tied to the home's period-revival character, then build the 3D renderings so you can see it. You review priced options and choose your scope. We prepare the documentation needed for City permits and any neighborhood design review, then our own crews build it: grading, retaining, hardscape, irrigation, lighting, and planting. Because it is one firm start to finish, the handoffs that usually cause delay and finger-pointing simply are not there.
FAQ
Do I need a permit for a landscape project in St. Francis Wood?
It depends on the scope. Planting, irrigation, and many at-grade patios are often straightforward, while retaining walls above a certain height, new decks, significant grading on a sloped lot, and drainage tied to the public system commonly require City of San Francisco permits. St. Francis Wood also has its own design expectations for street-facing work. We assess your specific scope early and tell you which parts are likely to need review.
Can you work with the home's original Mediterranean or Tudor character?
Yes. That is the point of designing the landscape to answer the house. We shape terraces, planting, and hardscape materials to suit the period-revival style of your home rather than imposing a look that fights it, so the finished garden reads as original to the property.
What does design-build mean for my project?
It means one firm handles both the design and the construction. You are not coordinating a separate designer and contractor or refereeing when their plans disagree. The same team that draws your outdoor living space prices it, permits it, and builds it, which keeps the original design intent intact through to the finished yard.
Will I see the design before construction starts?
Yes. We build 3D renderings of your outdoor living space so you can walk through the terrace, planting, and sightlines before any permit goes in. Changes are far cheaper to make on screen than in the ground, so we resolve the design with you first.
How do you handle the slope on St. Francis Wood lots?
Many lots here are graded and sit on the hillside, so the structural work, grading, retaining, and drainage, is usually the heart of the project. Because we run design and build as one team, those structural elements are engineered and constructed by the same firm that designed the garden above them, rather than split across separate plans.
Ready to plan your outdoor space? Contact New Key Construction to start with a site visit and priced options for your St. Francis Wood home.
