Backyard Pergola and Gazebo Ideas

Free-standing structures for seating or dining from Buffalo and beyond. That’s how we’ll define pergolas and gazebos for this exercise. Free-standing’s important. Attached to a house doesn’t count–that’s a porch or covered patio.

Styles

They’re rustic, classic, naturalistic (the one made with live trees!), a geodesic dome, tikki bar, modern, contemplative, and one built to feel like a pub.

Purposes

They’re built for dining, more than a couple are for wine-ing, some for weddings, most are for dining, swinging, built as art projects, and many are specific for much-needed shade (especially those Austin, TX ones!). All are for relaxing.

Materials

You’ll find metal, lumber, marine-grade plywood, and live trees. Most serve their purpose by having vines crawl over them. Others are gussied up with paint, curtains, lighting, outdoor kitchens, hanging baskets, benches, flags, and chandeliers.

The lead image is of a common area of three little cottages on Summer Street in Buffalo’s Cottage District. Here are others I’ve collected over the years…

 

Modern steel pergola on bluestone patio, found in Austin Texas.

This one in Buffalo’s Parkside neighborhood was set up more like an altar!

A shady rest stop in a garden in Atlanta, GA.

Buffalo’s “Mary’s Garden” pergola. Built for sharing a glass of wine to appreciate what work was done in the garden that day.

Okay, this is a store-purchased gazebo, so it doens’t really count. But it’s so integrated into its site (between two garages with a bridge to get into it) that I had to include it.

A Cheektowaga, NY pergola, dramatic with drapes and color..

A fantastic gazebo on Buffalo’s Richmond Avenue.

A comfortable pergola to get out of the blazing sun in Austin, TX.

The Sully’s “Hidden Gardens of Eden” in Eden, NY.

Technically a pergola, functionally a tikki bar. Found on Bird Avenue in Buffalo.

A Parkside area gazebo that matches the architectural style of its house.

One of the most popular stops on Garden Walk Buffalo – the Guercio’s Victorian garden on Delavan Avenue. They were married under this pergola!

A shady dining spot in Buffalo’s Allentown neighborhood.

Buffalo’s most well-known pergola – in Delaware Park’s Rose Garden, a popular spot for marriage ceremonies.

Technically, it’s attached to the garage, but this pergola keeps the bar (a hole in the garage wall) and dining area dry and in shed. It’s the Ryan garden on the Ken-Ton Garden Tour.

A classic gazebo in a garden in Lakeview, NY.

The Snediker Garden in Niagara County – complete with pizza oven!

The interior of a zen pergola art project in the Gardens at Trauttmansdorff Castle in Merano, Italy.

A geodesic pergola that seats six! Found in teh Favorito Garden on Linwood Avenue in Buffalo.

The exterior of a zen pergola art project in the Gardens at Trauttmansdorff Castle in Merano, Italy.

A rustic pergola in a forested front yard in Atlanta, GA.

The Dimino garden in Niagara county coverd in vines and hanging window.

The Coppola garden gazebo in a Buffalo suburb, a destination spot in teh garden with the best views of the garden.

The Ken-Ton Garden Tour outside Buffalo – it looked like a telescoping pergola!

A pergola over a pond in Amherst, NY. More dock than deck.

Another Austin, TX, garden – this dining pergola is actually four trees forming a canopy over the dining table.

Single use pergola in the Judd Garden in Buffalo.