Scenic Sanctuary

The natural wood exterior of the garden house blends seamlessly with the surrounding stone, trees and shrubs. Waterfalls created by West Winds Earthscaping, LLC. westwindsfalls.com Sky-blue walls bring the outdoors in, and mementos from trips to Africa, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico and the Caribbean adorn the space. Rick, Amanda and Pam enjoy their outdoor paradise.

When they toured South Africa four years ago, Pam and Rick Jokerst collected a number of souvenirs. The one that has most impacted their lives stands proudly at the back of their garden.

The Jokersts could be easily described as the St. Louis “Gauguins” of gardening. Over the past 10 years the Town & Country couple have transformed their back yard into a tropical paradise filled with a lagoon-shaped pool, dramatic waterfalls, flowing streams, bright flowers and lush foliage – typical of the scenes the French artist loved to paint.

It wasn’t until that trip to Africa that Pam realized something was missing. “We were staying in these little round huts with thatched roofs they call ‘rondavels,’ and I said, ‘I want one of these for my backyard,’” she recalls with a laugh.

“I really wanted the island style, but I knew Town & Country would never approve thatch,” she continues. Then there was the problem with the redbud tree at the back of the garden that the couple loved and refused to cut down.

Determined to create a rustic house in the midst of their garden despite the constraints, the Jokersts designed the roof of the garden house to angle down at the rear, and the structure became rectangular rather than round. “We actually notched the roof to allow the tree to come out and over it,” she explains. “The taller wall facing the garden allowed us to put in larger windows with better views.”

The natural wood exterior and ceiling of the garden house tie in beautifully with the stone, trees and shrubs in the garden, as does the concrete floor, stained to mimic stone. “The stone floor reminds us of the floors we experienced in Africa, and we used natural wood ceilings to give us the feeling of a thatched roof. We painted the [interior] walls a pale sky-blue to create the effect of being outdoors,” Pam recounts.

The interior furnishings reflect the Jokersts’ trips to Africa, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico and the Caribbean. Included in the eclectic collection are folding camp chairs of ecologically harvested kudu and zebra hide, hand-beaded kudu- and zebra-hide pillows, sconces created from ostrich eggs and springbok horn, a hand-painted raffia wall hanging and Mexican pottery.

The garden house has air conditioning, heat and electricity but no running water. Installing plumbing, the couple decided, “was basically another hassle that could go wrong. We do have cable for the kids and so Rick can watch ball games. There’s a changing area for the pool and my daughter [Amanda, 22] and her friends sleep out there a lot when they are home.”

For Pam, though, the best part of the garden house is its function as a retreat from everyday stresses. “It’s sort of a sanctuary,” she says thoughtfully. “It’s a place that’s inside, but not inside. I can be out there and not have to deal with phone calls and the laundry. I can be out in the garden but still at home.”