Complete natural stone outdoor oasis featuring pool, separate 10 person spa, koi pond, grotto, waterfalls, island and cabana. Featured on Discovery Animal Planets show The Pool Master.

Modern pool with outdoor living area and concrete slab.

Andy Hobson

Project and Photos by: Artesian Pools

The somewhat modest size of this beautiful back garden does not keep it from fulfilling numerous duties for this active family. Closest to the house itself are a screened sitting porch and a large outdoor dining area. One passes through antique wrought-iron gates to transition from the upper patios to the lawn area, separating the house from the pool. Slabs of Pennsylvania flagstone create a walkway through the lawn and around the swimming pool. Synthetic turf was selected for this project, in order to minimize maintenance issues and to ensure perfect grass at all times. The covered, open-air pavilion directly adjacent the pool is constructed with hand-carved posts and beams. The concrete floor of the pavilion is stained to coordinate with the Pennsylvania flagstone decks. Housing the outdoor kitchen and bar area, as well as a TV sitting area, this poolside pavilion has become the favorite hang-out for the client's teenagers and their friends. Although our client wanted a curved line, natural pool, they wanted a bit of a modernized version, and something a bit more refined. One way we achieved this was by using long, sweeping curves around the perimeter of the pool, with hand-cut, and slightly chiseled, Oklahoma flagstone coping. Next, rather than using the typical boulders for the retaining wall, we set Oklahoma stone in an irregular flagstone pattern with butt-joints so that no mortar shows. The walls are capped with the same Oklahoma flagstone as is used on the coping. The spa is tucked in the back corner of the garden, and raised 20" above the pool. The spillway from the spa is created using a combination of long slab boulders along with smaller boulders, to create a gentle, natural waterfall to the pool. Further refinement is shown in neatly trimmed appearance of the synthetic turf between the large slabs of Pennsylvania stone that create the pool deck.

A Memorial area family commissioned us to create a natural swimming pool in their back yard. The family already had a standard pool on premises, but it was isolated in an area of the yard not particularly suited to seating guests or hosting get-togethers. What they wanted was a second, natural swimming pool built that would serve as the hub of a new home outdoor entertainment area consisting of a new stone patio, comfortable outdoor seating, and a fire pit. They wanted to create something unique that would preserve as much of the natural features of the landscape as possible, but that would also be completely safe and fully functional as a swimming pool. We decided to design this new landscaping plan around a pre-existent waterfall that was already on the property. This feature was too attractive to ignore, and provided the ideal anchor point for a new gathering area. The fountain had been designed to mimic a natural waterfall, with stones laid on top of one another in such a way as to look like a mountain cliff where water spontaneously springs from the top and cascades down the rocks. At first glance, many would miss the opportunity that such a structure provides; assuming that a fountain designed like a cliff would have to be completely replaced to install a natural swimming pool. Our landscaping designers, however, came up with a landscape plan to transform one archetypal form into the other by simply adding to what was already there. At the base of the rocks we dug a basin. This basin was oblong in shape and varied in degrees of depth ranging from a few inches on the end to five feet in the middle. We directed the flow of the water toward one end of the basin, so that it flowed into the depression and created a swimming pool at the base of the rocks. This was easy to accomplish because the fountain lay parallel to the top of a natural ravine located toward the back of the property, so water flow was maintained by gravity. This had the secondary effect of creating a new natural aesthetic. The addition of the basin transformed the fountain’s appearance to look more like a cliff you would see in a river, where the elevation suddenly drops, and water rushes over a series of rocks into a deeper pool below. Children and guests swimming in this new structure could actually imagine themselves in a Rocky Mountain River. We then heated the swimming pool so it could be enjoyed in the winter as well as the summer, and we also lit the pool using two types of luminaries for complimentary effects. For vegetation, we used mercury vapor down lights to backlight surrounding trees and to bring out the green color of foliage in and around the top of the rocks. For the brown color of the rocks themselves, and to create a sparkling luminance rising up and out of the water, we installed incandescent, underwater up lights. The lights were GFIC protected to make the natural swimming pool shock proof and safe for human use.

Beautiful contemporary pool and deck, Integrated spill over spa with spa controls via smart phone, computer, tablet or at equipment room. LED lighting, salt water sensitization, gas fired boiler for rapid heat time, hidden automatic safety cover, hidden skimmer. David Noel

This home is constructed in the world famous neighborhood of Lido Shores in Sarasota, Fl. The home features a flipped layout with a front court pool and a rear loading garage. The floor plan is flipped as well with the main living area on the second floor. This home has a HERS index of 16 and is registered LEED Platinum with the USGBC. Ryan Gamma Photography

This Edina, MN project started when the client’s contacted me about their desire to create a family friendly entertaining space as well as a great place to entertain friends. The site amenities that were incorporated into the landscape design-build include a swimming pool, hot tub, outdoor dining space with grill/kitchen/bar combo, a mortared stone wood burning fireplace, and a pool house. The house was built in 2015 and the rear yard was left essentially as a clean slate. Existing construction consisted of a covered screen porch with screens opening out to another covered space. Both were built with the floor constructed of composite decking (low lying deck, one step off to grade). The deck also wrapped over to doorways out of the kitchenette & dining room. This open amount of deck space allowed us to reconsider the furnishings for dining and how we could incorporate the bar and outdoor kitchen. We incorporated a self-contained spa within the deck to keep it closer to the house for winter use. It is surrounded by a raised masonry seating wall for “hiding” the spa and comfort for access. The deck was dis-assembled as needed to accommodate the masonry for the spa surround, bar, outdoor kitchen & re-built for a finished look as it attached back to the masonry. The layout of the 20’x48’ swimming pool was determined in order to accommodate the custom pool house & rear/side yard setbacks. The client wanted to create ample space for chaise loungers & umbrellas as well as a nice seating space for the custom wood burning fireplace. Raised masonry walls are used to define these areas and give a sense of space. The pool house is constructed in line with the swimming pool on the deep/far end. The swimming pool was installed with a concrete subdeck to allow for a custom stone coping on the pool edge. The patio material and coping are made out of 24”x36” Ardeo Limestone. 12”x24” Ardeo Limestone is used as veneer for the masonry items. The fireplace is a main focal point, so we decided to use a different veneer than the other masonry areas so it could stand out a bit more. The clients have been enjoying all of the new additions to their dreamy coastal backyard. All of the elements flow together nicely and entertaining family and friends couldn’t be easier in this beautifully remodeled space.

This existing pool was completely stripped down to the concrete shell and remodeled to what you see here. We added the new water feature wall, new tanning ledge with bubblers, all new tile, plaster, coping and travertine pavers. Other features added were the fire pit, putting green and all new landscape. Photo credit: Daniel Driensky

Area was an existing water runoff/gully where boats would be pulled up and serviced in the 1930's. The new owner wanted the area transformed into a spa with a boulder waterfall that circulates water around the spa & into and out of the adjacent lake. Fireplace puts a finishing touch for an amazing natural retreat.

La piscina è adiacente all'appartamento del piano terra ed è destinata al relax del proprietario che la usa utilizzando la funzione del nuoto contro corrente e come idromassaggio. The swimming pool is connected to the apartment on the ground floor and made for the owner’s relax that uses it using the function of the swimming against the tide and as jacuzzi

A complete contemporary backyard project was taken to another level of design. This amazing backyard was completed in the beginning of 2013 in Weston, Florida. The project included an Outdoor Kitchen with equipment by Lynx, and finished with Emperador Light Marble and a Spanish stone on walls. Also, a 32” X 16” wooden pergola attached to the house with a customized wooden wall for the TV on a structured bench with the same finishes matching the Outdoor Kitchen. The project also consist of outdoor furniture by The Patio District, pool deck with gold travertine material, and an ivy wall with LED lights and custom construction with Black Absolute granite finish and grey stone on walls. For more information regarding this or any other of our outdoor projects please visit our web-sight at www.luxapatio.com where you may also shop online at www.luxapatio/Online-Store.html. Our showroom is located in the Doral Design District at 3305 NW 79 Ave Miami FL. 33122 or contact us at 305-477-5141.