Jeff Doubet shares how a Spanish courtyard fireplace was designed + built. Learn about the design and build process through photos filmed in time lapse stages.
Imagine the extra tall flames, random crackle + pops, and the smell of oaky smoke wafting through the air. The finished project became a favorite gathering place for a family living in the foothills of Santa Barbara, CA.
This was my original design drawing for the Spanish-style accessory structure. The built project would compliment the main house. Although a nice start, the homeowner wanted to simplify a few aspects of my design.
Mainly, to eliminate the roof stoop above the entry door, as well as the iron window grille. He also wanted to switch out the large window in my design with another pair of French doors.
All good design instincts and feedback. This is how the front door turned out.
Direct links to Spanish home and landscape product recommendations and installations.
The decomposed granite courtyard provides a look and feel of rural France or Spain. The olive tree on the right had lived there for many decades.
The ancient olive tree on the left was imported to the site. Learn more about transplanting large olive trees here.
Building A Spanish Courtyard Fireplace in Santa Barbara
Here are a couple of early construction photos showing the earliest stage of a Spanish courtyard fireplace being built in Santa Barbara, CA.
We didn’t want the large fireplace to encroach into the courtyard too much, so the building was notched to accommodate some of the depth of it..
If you look close, you can see the recessed mid-section of the building where the fireplace would be built into. Also, how framing for the plaster coving was being done.
The framers are nailing hand cut, 1-1/8″ thick plywood to each rafter tail, and adding wood blocking in between.
Here’s a closeup of how the detail looked before block framing and plaster work. This was a lot of work for the skilled framers to hand cut hundreds of these plywood template forms. They would eventually install them around the entire perimeter of the new building.
Here, the stucco team is finishing up the waterproofing of the building in prep for plaster stucco. This Spanish-style accessory structure is 1.5 story in height. Note how the operable clerestory windows are deeply recessed into the double framed walls.
The first scratch coat of plaster is being applied to the building. Here you can see the pedestrian side entrance with roof stoop. A 12 foot tall pair of wood barn doors to the left.
A Jeff Doubét recommended product for designing and building your charming, high-quality Spanish style home +landscape. A 240 page, full color Coffee Table Book.
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Spanish Courtyard Masonry Fireplace Construction Photos
Because of the extra large size of this Spanish courtyard fireplace design, the structural engineer recommended that it be built in a traditional way. The homeowner agreed, and these are some early construction photos of it.
Here, the extensive foundation for the masonry outdoor fireplace has been poured. Now the construction of the firebox begins. Decorative and functional red fire brick (installed in a herringbone pattern) is being laid inside reinforced cement block exterior shell.
Note the blue tape in the background. It functioned as a visual guide for the masonry contractor and homeowner as they fine tuned the final firebox opening height (in real time).
A temporary wood mold was built for the solid concrete pour, which will create the fireplace header. Here you can see how the heavy plywood side profile templates are jigsaw cut, and connected using 2 x 4 lumber.
In this image, the temporary plywood and 2 x 4 mold was removed. You can see the solid cast concrete beam now spans the full width of the firebox.
Spanish-style Exterior Fireplace Design
There are multiple steps to designing a Spanish-style exterior fireplace in Santa Barbara. 1) Technical building code—something your architect will help you with. 2) Functionality (drafting properly, etc.) your fireplace engineer will specify 3) Decorative details such as styling, trim choices, texture of plaster, etc. your designer can help with.
Once the bulk of the masonry fireplace was built, I was back on site to cut a paper template to confirm the final details of the design.
It truly is a massive Spanish courtyard fireplace. Not quite tall enough to walk into, but plenty big to have a nice gathering around it.
I made this template out of black roofing paper. You can see how the bulk of the concrete work is very close to the final design.
This black paper template will provide a visual guide for the exterior plasterers. They will arrive soon to add the final detailing of the fireplace. The “step or shelf” at the top of my template will enable room for the subtle “hood swoop” that will also be created in stucco.
Architectural Details for Spanish Exteriors
The exterior stucco details of the outdoor fireplace and roof eave coving have been completed.
The painting crew has arrived and are now starting to stain the wood windows and doors.
The Santa Barbara Spanish accessory structure was painted a muted tan color to blend in with the surrounding rural, mountain setting. Now a local stone mason hand chisels sandstone boulders as he makes stone landings at each door opening. In the background, the Spanish courtyard fireplace is complete.
A precious scene captured on film. The young boy shows love and affection for his mom. Building these types of Spanish-style details into your own project will become special backdrops for you and your family and friends.
When I first met with the homeowner many years ago… I thought he was crazy for wanting to build such a massive outdoor fireplace.
Now, I think about how his early vision for the property was pure genius. A friendly reminder about the importance of getting out of our comfort zones, and trusting the instincts of others we respect.
My client and I have become close friends over the years. Here, we celebrate a newly completed project. We have completed many other projects on his property, since.
Years later, I shot this photo during a visit to the project site. An ancient olive tree was craned in and positioned at the corner of the building. Another mature olive tree to the right, is centered exactly in between this accessory structure and the main house.
More Construction photos of This Spanish Accessory Structure in my Book
Glean more insights about this specific project including more construction photos by checking out my coffee table book available now on Amazon. Pages 232-235
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