Landscape Design: AMS Landscape Design Studios, Inc. / Photography: Jeri Koegel

Chic sleek ranch home with modern geometric pool design, custom composite wood deck, water features, fire feature, tanning shelf, ledge loungers, modern landscape.

Pool landscaping and hardscape with pergola and covered deck

An inspired mix of ORIJIN STONE’s porcelain paving and custom-crafted natural stone, can be found at this striking “Modern European” Orono, MN home. Bright “sky” colored porcelain, beautifully trimmed with a warm grey Indiana Limestone, is found at the dramatic entrance, around the expansive pool and patio areas, in the luxurious pool house suite and on the rooftop deck. Also featured is ORIJIN's exclusive Alder™Limestone wall stone. Architecture: James McNeal Architecture with Angela Liesmaki-DeCoux Builder: Hendel Homes Landscape Design & Install: Topo Landscape Architecture Interior Design: VIVID Interior Interior Tile Installer: Super Set Tile & Stone Photography: Landmark Photography & Design

Rob Karosis, photographer

Closed door to outdoor shower with peek-a-boo walls. Nautical lighting, whale-tail hooks and ship lap. Cambria countertops in storage area. Design: Andrea Hickman of A.HICKMAN Design; Construction: Greg Deans of Decks with Style; Photography: Andrea Hickman

Interior hot tub room with faux finished walls, natural stone, an interior waterfall and windows to both the outside and viewable from inside the home.

Kaihani wanted to create a space that reminded her of Hawaii. A vacation getaway in her own backyard. We revamped the pool, adding a flowing water feature and glowing stones. We resurfaced the deck with hardy Ipe wood and travertine. And we created a cozy seating area next to an elegant fire pit. To get to Hawaii, Kaihani only has to step out her back door. It's breath taking...it's like being back home in Hawaii. Melissa Wright

Westphalen Photography

Pool Picket- Duke 3 Rail Closed Picket

A little 'oasis' was created in this compact urban yard as a 'mini pool' for a family with young children. The plunge-pool/spa with black slate interior and integrated rock feature, has a waterfall surrounded by the lush plantings. The deck is natural square-cut flagstone set on a concrete base. A natural cedar hedge and custom cedar side screens provide privacy. With equipment in the garage, insulated plumbing lines and a custom cover allow for year round use. (8 x 13, kidney shape)

Jessica T

Outdoor bar with palapa, fire pit, and swimming pool

Years ago, Exterior Worlds was contacted by a couple by the names of Rick and Susan Ashcroft. They asked if we could do something about the lagoon-style swimming pool that had been built behind their house in the late1940s. This style had been very popular at that time, and it is still a favored by some of the world’s more lavish resorts. However, ever since the day they had purchased their home, the Ashcroft’s had always been agitated by the ostentatiousness of the whole thing, and had finally decided to have it redesigned as a natural swimming pool. They wanted their back yard to retain the feeling of a tropical locale, but lose the touristic element in favor of that of a cozier, more private corner of paradise. We agreed with their sentiments wholeheartedly. Just a cursory glance at the property confirmed that a natural swimming pool design was a much better fit for the grade of the landscape and the surrounding opportunities for vegetation and lighting. The Ashcroft residence was located on the side of a hill that sloped down toward a ravine, and the house itself house was built 40 feet back from the road. The steep grade of the land posed construction challenges to any type of water feature, but there was a way to build a natural swimming pool here that would achieve the aesthetic the Ashcroft’s were seeking and create a lasting element that required only limited and very intermittent periods of maintenance. We began by stripping the pool down to its shell and building a retaining wall that offset the grade of the land. We shaped the surrounding earth around it into a much deeper basin that would allow water to collect naturally like it does at the base of a cliff. A series of interlocking pavers was laid around the perimeter to create a flat surface that extended from the back of the home to the retaining wall. This is a standard aesthetic used in most natural swimming pools, but it also served a special, practical purpose in this instance. Since this area was subject to heavy land erosion from runoff rainwater, pavers provided a very efficient way of reconstructing key elements of the structure every 5-10 years. The natural swimming pool now appeared as an inviting portal into a remote hill country getaway, just a stone’s throw away from the back of the house. We made it easier to reach by building two series of stone steps that led down to either side of the water’s edge. We were careful to avoid making them look too much like stairs. Instead, we designed them to closely mimic the layers of rock that often jut from the sides of mountains and dormant volcanoes on islands all over the Pacific. To further develop this theme, we placed a large flat stone to serve as a diving area, and we created a waterfall on either side of it by laying down stones in a manner that created varying speeds of water. Our construction methods here were very unique in comparison to those of our competitors. We took almost a month to consciously and deliberately lay each stone by hand. While this may seem painstakingly detailed to some, the rewards were astonishing, because our natural swimming pool mimicked Nature in such a way that it lacked almost all evidence of human engineering, and looked virtually identical to something you would stumble upon in the jungle of a tropical paradise. If you are interested in any high-quality landscape services, Exterior Worlds has been providing the high-end residential landscape services and garden design services discussed above for the Houston and the surrounding areas including memorial villages (Piney Point Village, Bunker Hill Village, Hunter Creek Village), Tanglewood, River Oaks, West University and the greater Houston (Hou), area since 1987. Contact us at 713-827-2255 For more the 20 years Exterior Worlds has specialized in servicing many of Houston's fine neighborhoods.

Parkscreative.com

Lake Front Country Estate Outdoor Dining, designed by Tom Markalunas, built by Resort Custom Homes. Photography by Rachael Boling