Inside Story

In 2025, no longer are we content with a simple grill set up. Homeowners of today are looking for backyard kitchen setups that rival their indoor kitchens, complete with luxury appliances like pizza ovens, steam ovens, and sleek stainless steel grilling setups.

While 2024 was the “year of the backyard,” in 2025, homeowners are still focusing on creating a great outdoor entertaining space. Whether relaxing with family or entertaining, Houzz senior editor Mitchell Parker says the vast majority of homeowners they surveyed installed a grill during an exterior renovation. “But we’re seeing homeowners embrace other outdoor cooking methods as well: in addition to traditional grills, homeowners are adding pizza ovens, smokers, ceramic kamado-style barbecues and Argentinian-style gaucho grills that use wood or charcoal,” he says.

As Elle Decor reports, Zillow research has found that listings touting chef-friendly amenities, such as steam ovens, pizza ovens and professional-grade appliances, can sell for as much as 5.3% more than similar homes without them. The trend for having your own pizza oven is hot, with pizza ovens are still blowing up, ranging from portable ovens like the Ooni Koda 16 Pizza Oven to restaurant-worthy appliances like the Dome oven.

Americans are also spending thousands of dollars to create luxury grilling-and-chilling setups that facilitate this unique cooking technique that involves slow-cooking meat over a wood fire, which creates a deliciously smoky flavor and tender meat. Argentinian grills are being requested more and more in residential projects, says Nick Fobes, partner at Chicago L.A., and Kansas City-based landscape architecture firm Hoerr Schaudt.

“Outdoor cooking and entertaining have taken center stage, with as much attention on the backyard as the kitchen,” he explains. “These grills elevate the experience, combining high functionality with a dramatic flair that’s hard to resist.”

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Photo Credit: Ozgur Coskun / Shutterstock.com