BACKYARD BREAKS
Backyard Breaks
A miniature Himalayas at home
By Jenna Biter • Photographs by John Gessner
In the neighborhood of Pinehurst No. 9, Bob and Maria Milligans’ white stucco house lounges near the back of a lot shaded by mature pines, oaks and flowering dogwoods. Rhododendrons, hydrangeas, azaleas, camellias — the front yard is a gardener’s dream. The backyard is a golfer’s paradise.
“I love to play golf, so you’ll notice we’re walking from the patio to my . . .” Bob motions with his hands like he’s unveiling the grand prize on a game show “. . . putting green.”
This mini-Thistle Dhu, or micro-Himalayas, was fashioned from a seamless 20-by-20 piece of artificial turf, molded for a natural roll and sped up with hundreds of pounds of sand worked into the surface. There are three cups to aim at and enough contour to keep a tour pro scratching his head. “Sometimes it breaks left, sometimes it breaks right,” says Bob. The longest putt is roughly 15 feet.
McNeill’s Landscaping Services of Aberdeen installed the green when they overhauled the Milligans’ backyard in 2025. Upgrades included a rock garden, patio and walking paths, the continuation of a retaining wall, and in addition to the green, the replacement of the yard’s grass with turf. “I can’t stress enough how good of a job McNeill’s Landscaping did,” says Bob, surveying his domain. The backyard’s facelift was the final step in a home makeover that began just after the Milligans purchased the home in 2021.
“This is our Florida . . . I guess you call it a Carolina Room here,” Milligan says. The outdoor living space is situated on a deck they converted from a split-level to a single tier in 2022. Later they installed a pergola with remote control-operated louvres that can divert the sun any time of day and even keep out the rain. Four or five seating arrangements spill off the deck and into the backyard, ready to accommodate the Milligans’ frequent entertaining. A teakwood dining table seats 14. There are two gas-powered fire pits, plus a grill. “It’s the only thing he’s good at besides golf,” says Maria, grinning.
“We love to have more than just two or three friends over,” she says. They regularly commune with a group of six couples, the self-proclaimed “dirty dozen.” “Our new friends all love to come here because they can just chill, unwind and open a few bottles of good wine,” says Maria. “It’s relaxing.”
Dark blue cushions, pillows and pots finish the backyard. It’s a fitting color for a Navy family. Bob served 27 years in uniform before retiring as a captain in 1999. After their first life moving around the country, overseas and on the seas, followed by a second life in northern Virginia, the Milligans finally settled in Pinehurst. Their home sits across the street from the fairway of the fifth hole of No. 9, the Jack Nicklaus-designed course originally known as Pinehurst National.
“It was fate,” says Maria. Friends were moving to the area and the Milligans traveled south for a visit. “I walked into a shop, and the owner gave a hello-how-are-you,” says Maria, still dumbfounded. “I don’t get that in northern Virginia.”
Pretty soon the Milligans were searching for their own place in Pinehurst. “It took us three months,” says Maria. They liked the floor plan of their now-home and could see the property’s potential. “We could make it our own,” she says.
The Milligans moved into the nearly 4,000-square-foot house in 2021 and immediately got to work updating bathrooms and the kitchen, painting from top to bottom, essentially redoing everything indoors except for the layout. Then they shifted their focus outdoors.
“It was overgrown. It looked more like a jungle than anything else,” says Bob. “The backyard was nothing but pine needles, so it wasn’t really usable.” They hacked, trimmed, shaped and reshaped the potential they saw into reality. Thirteen trees were removed, so the surviving stand could flourish. They left the sprawling azaleas untouched.
“I love flowers. I want flowers,” Maria says. “I have these gorgeous azaleas throughout, I have rhododendrons, I have camelias, I have jasmine, roses, gardenias.” Whites, reds and pinks color the scene. “During the spring, this place is unbelievable as far as the color goes,” Bob says. Plus the Milligans’ home is just under a mile from the clubhouse. “Why do you think we moved down here?” Maria teases as Bob cracks a smile.
“The people I play with say that I have an advantage over them,” he says, eyeing the backyard’s crown jewel. A golfer-gnome watches the emerald turf from his home in a garden bed, lanterns illuminate the playing surface for after-hours practice and a pair of loungers offer respite to tired putters. “They’re older, I keep reminding them, so they putt and they sit,” says Maria.
Pathways puzzled together from geometric pavers circulate guests to and from the main attraction, and a golf-themed bird bath completes the scene. The yard’s full of robins, blue jays, woodpeckers and hummingbirds, especially when the flowers are out. It’s nearly a private aviary. “You can barely see our neighbors through the trees. You can’t see our neighbors at the back. We love it here because we’re in the community, but we can also get up early in the morning, have a cup of coffee on the deck and not worry about golfers.”
Unless they’re playing at Milligans National.
