When one Armory Park homeowner wanted to get the most from her outdoor space, she turned to a close friend for the design. “This project nearly doubled the size of my home!” Pamela Sutherland exclaims. But it’s not the typical bricks-and-mortar home expansion. Instead, what’s been created is a breezy, exuberant, outdoor Great Room with space for cooking, dining, lounging, cardplaying and even hot-tubbing. Pamela, an East Coast native, has always yearned for a big bite of the Southwest’s famous alfresco lifestyle. “My first home in Tucson was in the Sam Hughes Neighborhood and had a nice, conventional landscape,” says Pamela, a lawyer and economic development specialist. “I could dine outside, but then I went back inside. I wanted something on a whole different level here and I knew Michael Albers was the one to help me pull it together.” Albers, known primarily as an interior designer (he worked on the Fox Tucson Theatre restoration), is Pamela’s dear friend and bridge partner. Although the targeted space was singularly Unimpressive when he first saw it — an expanse of hardpacked, treeless dirt between the main house and the guesthouse — Pamela’s suggestion of a Moroccan/Bedouin theme started ideas flowing. Hmmm. Could some sort of tent possibly work? The original 1,100-square-foot abode was built in 1915 in the Armory Park Neighborhood as a railroad worker’s cottage and is a contributing structure to the area’s historic district designation. Extensive alterations to the house itself were problematic for a variety of reasons. So, in 2012 when Pamela moved in, the interiors were painted white as a backdrop for a contemporary art collection and a well-edited selection of colorful furnishings. But the overall lack of space put a serious crimp in her style. “Anyone who knows Pamela well knows she loves to entertain her friends and for her political causes,” Albers says. “Once she gave a party for her friends’ dogs. “The main goal of the design would be to execute a floor Plan able to accommodate gatherings of 40 to 50 people, but also be comfortable for just Pam. She wanted me to take care of everything, so that’s what I did.” The layout he showed her essentially was installed exactly as drawn. In it, an existing porch off the tiny original kitchen serves as a kitchen extension and bar. A handsome, elongated counter anchors this area. The counter also screens the view of an aboveground hot tub. A small table and chairs sit in one corner of the porch. A large, sumptuous seating area beyond the porch is comprised of oversized banquette sofas Upholstered in Moroccan fabric and covered with pillows, many of which are clad in antique suzani embroidered cloth. Remaining seating includes an authentic Bedouin chair complete with a built-in trunk under the seat. A nearby table is made from a repurposed camel saddle. Albers sourced most of the furnishings and antiques through local estate sales and his network of contacts and showrooms. “The conversation area is protected by a new shade structure with a solid roof,” Pamela points out. “It’s a great place to sit around and a big screen at the west end offers additional sun protection. But I love the fact that we didn’t seriously consider additional solid roofing. We wanted the experience to change as you move through the space. We went for an open pergola over the big table for eight in the dining area, so you can look up through the lights on the posts and beams to see the sky. There’s nothing over the hot tub. You can just lay back and look at the stars.” Albers designed and placed a refined metal fence around the project while making sure the guesthouse, which is rented out, also retained a nice-sized yard. A double- wide gate separates these two outdoor areas. They are fully restored to a unified whole when the gate is rolled open. Other amenities include a Moroccan fountain that enhances the appearance of a small, existing storage/laundry building. An outdoor shower also is tucked alongside the house, primarily for after-hot tub use. But it has proved surprisingly handy when there’s a houseguest. “It’s very private,” Pamela says. “People love to use it!” Albers got a bit more hands-on than usual, he admits, because Pamela is like family. He not only designed, but constructed the banquette sofas himself — and stitched some of the throw pillows (Pam collected the rest). He handstenciled the designs along the length of the outdoor kitchen counter and managed to create a tent-like feeling by personally draping muslin from the center point of the seating area’s ceiling, securing it to the side beams, and pulling and tying the fabric to the posts. He then added brocade detailing along the edges and an exotic lantern at the center. One of the strongest elements that ties the exterior improvements to the interior is the use of art. “Pamela had this large, gorgeous enamel sculpture by Colorado artist Harriet Johns,” he notes. “We placed that first and she’s kept adding things.” Outdoors also features artworks by Ned Egan and David Aguirre. A displayed mosaic piece was presented to Pamela in Appreciation by Arizona Lists, a political committee that she helped start. “People do wonder about maintenance,” Pamela says. “I consider the Great Room part of my house, so I have it cleaned once a week along with the interior. The rugs are all indoor/outdoor and can just be sprayed down. We used just a few plants to soften the fence and the storage building and others to finish screening the hot tub. Those all are on drip irrigation. I do need to make sure the dining table and chairs are treated with teak oil two to three times a year, but I don’t mind. Teak oil is amazing for your hands. “If sometimes a few more leaves than I’d like have blown in, or it’s a bit dusty, or I can tell I’ve had a visiting bird, well, as Michael says, ‘If you want to live outside, these are things you have to put up with.’ I accept that. “I’m just so happy to live in Michael’s world.” Judith Ratliff, MLA, is a Tucson landscape designer. She can be reached at 577-7391 for comment. Creating an Outdoor Oasis: Moroccan Design Details • square wooden sofas with simple framework embellished with intricate patterns and designs • Rugged rough-hewn wood furniture • mosaic tiles, most often on walls and fountains • lively hued patterns and prints on fabrics • Canopies give a “tent-like” feel, most often achieved with billowing, lightweight fabrics • silk and woolen woven rugs on floors • metal lanterns and lamps in brass and copper hung from the ceiling for ambience • smooth, polished brass metal bowls and trays • arched details in the traditional islamic keyhole design for windows and doorways • large quantities of pillows and cushions in lush textiles • Rich, bold, jewel-toned colors • Colored walls and terra cotta flooring • Plant palette of fragrant flowers and bold foliage, including citrus, rosemary and palms • stenciled accents