Heat up your outdoor experience by incorporating a fire feature in your landscape. Fireplaces, fire pits and fire tables light up the ambience and extend the usability of your outdoor space from day to night and summer to fall.

ONE: Palazzo fireplace, by Heat & Glo, available at Forshaw.

TWO: Vintage 2424 fire pit, by The Outdoor Great Room Company, available at C. Bennett.

THREE: Hammered copper top fire pit, by O.W. Lee, available at Amini’s.

When the Judges purchased their home in 2009, the turn-of-the-last-century Victorian didn’t need much work. That’s because Kelly’s grandparents – the previous homeowners, who’d purchased the place in the sixties – had already put in enough sweat equity to revive the once-tired stick style.

Entering Jerry Birkhead’s home is an experience. The eye is attracted this way and that, attempting to zero in on one elaborate component or piece. When the realization hits that this is all but impossible, it’s necessary to relinquish control and revel in the extravagance. When asked to describe his style, Jerry ponders, “I’d say eclectic.” And eclectic, he is. Jerry's signatures are bright colors, antiques, crown molding and pillows.

Thomas Dunn Learning Center, St. Louis, MO
Photography by Robert Pettus

For our June/July Outdoor issue, we asked local design professionals their opinion on outdoor water fountains. Are they a classic or a craze? Here’s what the professionals had to say.