Outdoor Living in Aubrey, TX
Outdoor living is the covered patio, pool, kitchen, stone and lighting that make a backyard part of the home. Longhorn designs and builds them together for Aubrey homeowners in Denton County, with one family-owned team.
- 40+Years in Business
- 15,000+Projects Completed
- 1984Family-Owned Since
- 90DFW Cities Served
Before you build in Aubrey
Aubrey was a small rural and horse-country town until the last two decades, when large master-planned subdivisions began filling in the farmland around it, so most new backyards are graded new-construction lots with thin topsoil and no established trees. The land is generally flat to gently rolling.
That ground decides how a slab, a pool shell or a footing has to be built here. Here is what it does to a patio.
We file the permit with the City of Aubrey and follow it through review, so the schedule doesn’t stall on paperwork.
Longhorn has built across Denton County and the wider Metroplex since 1984, and every project starts with a free design visit and a firm price.
Homes and Yards in Aubrey
Horse ranches surround Aubrey, and newer subdivisions have been built since the late 2000s on former peanut farmland.
Most new Aubrey yards are freshly graded subdivision lots with thin topsoil and no trees, so shade and drainage lead the design. Where there is an HOA, one set of drawings for the whole yard keeps the review simple.
Aubrey sits in the Cross Timbers on sandy soil, near Ray Roberts Dam on the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. Where an older oak survives on a lot, it is an asset: its root zone is marked before any digging, and its shade goes into the layout.
City of Aubrey water system, drawing on Trinity Aquifer wells.
The Texas and Pacific built a section house here in 1881 under the name Onega, and the name Aubrey was drawn from a hat the same year. After the first businesses burned in 1887 the town was rebuilt west of the tracks. By 1920 it had more than thirty businesses and 700 people, then the automobile, the boll weevil and the Depression cut the population. It stood at 948 in 1980, 1,500 in 2000, 5,006 in 2020 and 6,490 in 2021. The historic downtown hosts the Aubrey Peanut Festival, which marked its 40th year in October 2026.
The city draws groundwater from five wells capable of producing 980,000 gallons per day and holds a contract with Upper Trinity Regional Water District for an additional 100,000 gallons per day, with 873,000 gallons of total storage. The district’s current sources are Lewisville Lake and Ray Roberts Lake, by contract with Dallas and Denton, and Jim Chapman Lake.
Development Services at 107 S Main Street uses one combined Accessory Building, Patio, Patio Cover, Fence Permit Application, a separate in-ground pool ordinance and permit application with a pool affidavit, and an above-ground pool, hot tub and water garden permit. Applications must be emailed as one complete PDF, and plan reviews typically take 10 to 14 business days.
Parks include Matthew’s Park downtown at 202 Plum St., renovated in 2024, Leslie Park with basketball and pickleball courts, and Veterans Memorial Park at 301 S. Main St., which has hosted the Peanut Festival for about 30 years.
What each outdoor project needs in Aubrey, TX
What does a patio cover need in Aubrey?
Blackland Prairie clay lifts and drops with the season, so a patio cover’s footings are the whole job. Posts set in shallow pads move with the top of the soil and take the roofline with them; footings taken below the active zone, tied to a slab that drains away from the house, do not. In Aubrey the permit goes through the City of Aubrey, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on patio covers.
How is a pergola built to last in Aubrey?
On Blackland Prairie clay a pergola’s posts are what decide whether it still stands square in five years. The clay moves most in the top few feet, so footings go deeper than the movement rather than resting in it, and the slab underneath gets its own drainage plan. More on pergolas.
How is a pool built in Aubrey?
Blackland Prairie clay swells through a wet spring and shrinks hard by August, and a pool shell is a rigid object sitting in ground that moves around it. Here that means the shell, the beam and the deck are engineered for that movement from the drawing stage, and the flatwork gets its control joints placed on purpose rather than wherever the pour ends. In Aubrey the permit goes through the City of Aubrey, and Longhorn files it and follows it through inspection. More on pools.
Can a sunroom or screened enclosure be added in Aubrey?
A sunroom or screened enclosure in Aubrey is attached to the house, so it is permitted through the City of Aubrey and sits on footings designed for the ground under it. We match the roofline and the exterior to the house so it reads as part of it. More on sunrooms and patio enclosures.
How a Backyard Project Runs in Aubrey
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A free design visit in Aubrey
A designer comes out to the house, measures the space a backyard project has to fit, walks the access a crew would need, and talks through what you want it to do. You leave with a firm price. On Blackland Prairie ground, that is also when the grading, drainage and movement details get decided rather than improvised on site.
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Drawings, permit and HOA
We file the permit with the City of Aubrey and follow it through review, so the schedule does not stall on paperwork. Where an HOA wants a submittal, we prepare the drawings it asks for.
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One crew, one schedule
The same team builds the whole backyard project in order, so the slab, the structure, the electrical and the finish work are not three different companies working around each other.
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Walkthrough and warranty
We walk the finished backyard project with you, settle the punch list and leave one warranty on the work, and we are still Denton County-local if you need us later.
Aubrey outdoor living questions
Almost always, for pools and for anything attached to the house, including patio covers, sunrooms and enclosures. Longhorn files the permit with the City of Aubrey and handles the inspections, so the schedule does not stall on paperwork.
Aubrey sits on Blackland Prairie ground in Denton County. The ground decides how a slab, a pool shell or a footing has to be built, so we plan the drainage and the footings for it at the first visit rather than after something moves.
Where an HOA in Aubrey asks for a submittal, we prepare the drawings and details it wants, alongside the city permit, so the approval runs in parallel with the design rather than after it.
Yes. Many homeowners start with one piece, such as a pool or a patio cover, and add the rest later. We plan the whole space up front so the gas, power, water and drainage for later phases are in place from the start.
Other cities we build in near Aubrey
Outdoor living guides
Outdoor Flooring for a Frisco Backyard: Pick by Zone
One yard, five jobs for the ground: dining, cooking, swimming, play and the dog. Here is how to match a surface to each zone, and what Frisco’s clay, heat and city rules change.
Outdoor Kitchen Countertop Materials in Frisco, TX
Granite, porcelain, quartzite and quartz all behave differently in Frisco sun, freezes and clay. Here is a pick by exposure, a sealing test, and what the base under the stone needs.
HOA Approval for a Patio Cover in Texas: DFW Guide
The HOA and the city are two separate approvals, and the HOA usually comes first. Here is the packet a DFW committee wants, how long it takes, why it says no, and how to answer a denial.
Free design visits in Aubrey
Tell us what you have in mind and we’ll come measure, talk options and give you a straight number. No obligation, no pressure.
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