Stephen and Jennifer Giordano, both lawyers, love vacationing in Italy. The couple are of Italian heritage, so it was only natural that they look across the Atlantic for outdoor inspiration.

This Logan Circle rowhouse required creative thinking from their landscape-designer J. Mark White, owner of GardenWise to create a wonderfully Mediterranean atmosphere, within concise precision of their plot, while retaining their off-street parking spot.

To merge their European vision with urban reality, White dreamed up a design inspired by an Italian style piazza-with Roman-style concrete columns-and a secure space for the car below the patio.

The stucco treatment over the brick, terra-cotta-hued paint, and a Tuscan-style fountain, surrounded by low-maintenance crepe myrtles, climbing roses, and upright boxwoods to mimic Italian cypresses. The couple added a tiled dining table and a grilling station set in a fieldstone countertop. Says Jennifer: “The dog likes to cook himself on the stone patio, and we love to grill.” Now the previously neglected space offers something for everyone!

Once the unquestionable hippie colony of the DC area, Takoma Park may be transitioning to an ever so slightly more mainstream profile. Compromises made to the Maryland neighborhood’s nuclear-free zone ordinance and the dissolution of the Free Burma Committee are perhaps the most palpable signs of this shift. A transforming population and increased commercial options work to reaffirm the area’s mellowing views. Despite these changes, Takoma Park remains a little neighborhood full of socially conscious individuals trying to make a difference. Takoma Park was established in 1883 by developer Benjamin Franklin Gilbert. His goal was to create a neighborhood where federal workers could commute into DC via the railroad. When the neighborhood attempted to incorporate in 1890, however, Montgomery County government could only do so to the Maryland side, splitting the town in two. Thus, Takoma, DC and Takoma Park, Maryland were born &emdash; one of which is decidedly not to be confused with the other. Takoma Park’s border is about a five-minute walk from the Metro station (on the DC side). Housing styles in Takoma Park vary from late 19th century Victorians to craftsman Colonials, bungalows from the 1920s, Cape Cods, American foursquares, farmhouses, and many lovingly restored homes create this tree lined street oasis with redline metro access within walking distance.