There's no doubt that over the past few years, outdoor living spaces have evolved from standard, Spartan concrete patios into lush retreats that have taken a page from four-star hotels and idyllic vacation resorts. Yet the next evolution of outdoor living areas may entail bringing them indoors - at least when you need to.

"We're seeing more clients opting to build enclosed screened porches and summer kitchens, in essence turning them into multi-season rooms so they can enjoy them all the time," explains Willis Spivey, owner of Mooresville-based custom home builder Spivey Homes. One of the most innovative ways Spivey accomplishes that is with a product he recently used on the summer kitchen of Joe and Andrea Nemechek's new residence, called a NanaWall. "A NanaWall is a wall of doors that fold back, almost like sliding doors but in a bi-fold configuration. In this case, we used three sets of big, solid wood doors with full glass panels. They don't obstruct any of the views when they are closed and they completely collapse when they're open, so they allow for unobstructed flow from the summer kitchen in the covered porch area out to the pool beyond."

The Nemechek's summer kitchen is an expansive space of 21' x 47' that was designed to complement the interior while having a flair all its own. "It matches the architectural style of the home, with stack stone walls, stone and cedar siding, and a cedar ceiling, yet it has its own atmosphere," Spivey notes. Indeed, with heated travertine floors and three flat-screen TVs, it's an entertainer's dream. The full outdoor kitchen features stainless steel Viking appliances with all the amenities - which is another frequent request of Spivey's custom clients. "Because our clients are putting them in screened or enclosed porches, we're seeing more and more permanently installed stainless steel grills and hoods, and we're putting more prep areas alongside the grill, often with sinks and generous counter space," he notes.
Part of the appeal of outdoor living areas is that they give you more freedom to inject your personality into the space, and Joe did that by adding a cedar picnic table that he built himself.
A double-sided fireplace divides that dining and cooking area from another seating/game area beyond. Just steps away is a free-form pool with a beach entry on one side and an elevated hot tub that cascades into the pool. Since this area was built as Spivey was building the main residence, it posed few challenges. "The best and easiest way to build an outdoor living area is when you are building the house," he notes. "It gives you more room to maneuver and you don't have to worry about having workers there, possibly tracking in mud and damaging landscaping, once you are living in the home."
Being gentle on the landscape is something that Spivey's company has done throughout the 33 years the firm has been in business. "We've been building green long before it was a buzzword. We as a company have always been concerned with taking care and not wasting and being as efficient as we can, long before it became popular. We just really do care - about our earth and about our customers - and we work really hard to do what's right for them." The Nemechek's house was built eco-friendly, and that carried over to the outside as well. "Everything we did to the house, we did to the porch, which has its own separate heat and AC units. We used a lot of recycled and sustainable materials - like the cultured stone and travertine floors - we selected efficient appliances and used geothermal heat pumps and Icynene foam insulation everywhere, including the porch."
While the summer kitchen is just one element of the fabulous residence that Spivey built for Joe, Andrea and their three children, it displays the level of attention to their lifestyle that the builder poured into every aspect of the home. "This is the second home that we've built for them, so we know a little about the way they live. Andrea told me the other day, ‘Our house is perfect.' A lot of times after you build, there are certain aspects of a home that you wished you had changed or done differently, but this home fits this family perfectly," Spivey notes.