The opulent gold coast of Southern California lies just south of Los Angeles in Orange County. Here south facing beaches lure the rich and famous to build their dream homes overlooking the blue Pacific. This high end population is busy upgrading older beach houses into year around residences. They expect world class landscapes with everything from specialty spas to gazebos and pizza ovens. Here contractors are creating the expensive stone playgrounds for the rich and famous to enjoy the weather, views and healthy lifestyle.

But not everyone can live right on the coast, yet even inland it remains expensive to buy a home. Rather than trade up, homeowners now upgrade their exterior spaces because it's worth the investment in order to exploit the mildest weather in the West.

The epicenter of this universe is Newport Beach and Balboa Bay with its islands and extensive marina. Next door is Irvine, a massive planned community of mixed housing where small space landscaping becomes an art form. Cooler coastal evenings and morning fog inspires outdoor living spaces adapted to comfort with built-in heating or a swanky outdoor fireplace. Here the culinary arts are part of every get together so outdoor dining is a first class amenity that gets regular use.

Inland, Santa Ana's older neighborhoods offer larger vintage homes and lots that benefit from landscape architects familiar with these historic styles from Victorian to mid-century modern. Beneath the aging old street trees, warmer conditions here can be very dry making xeriscapes and swimming pools a desirable investment. Outdoor fans move air during the stagnant summer days, and enclosures help to mitigate the hot Santa Ana winds.

Anaheim with its ever present links to Disneyland and nearby Torrance offers hill country with larger rural lots that benefit from quality site planning. Here older homes are being demolished to replace with expansive Mediterranean style dwellings tailored to the indoor-outdoor lifestyle. Whether it is a multi-dimensional family landscape or an equestrian estate, a good contractor or designer pays off in making expansive projects not only beautiful, but efficient to build.

Despite economic malaise, contractors in this area are busy, so it pays to find the right one for your proposed project. If the goal is trendy stone work, a truly complete outdoor kitchen or a viewing terrace outfitted with climate control devices, make sure you hire only the best. Here in Orange County the bar is raised for what folks want and what they expect from their contractors, designers and craftsmen.