This home renovation story begins with John and Barb, a fabulous couple looking to remodel their 15-year old winter home in Bonita Bay, Bonita Springs, Florida. Living in the home only part-time, spending their summers in Oconomowac, Wisconsin, John and Barb had an idea of what they wanted, but didn’t know how to bring it to fruition. They also needed someone who they could trust to renovate their home while they were away in Wisconsin. Their vision for their home started with a new kitchen, family room and wet bar. Enjoying their time outdoors and on their lanai, they also envisioned improving their indoor-outdoor living space. With the help of Progressive Design Build, this couple’s home was designed and completed remodeled while they were away, transforming the common area of their home into a more user friendly, functional space. Emphasis was placed on the kitchen and the open floor plan. New tile flooring was installed throughout the space, with all new painting that matched the homeowner’s style and taste. A new Anderson door was also installed from the kitchen to the outdoor living space, replacing heavy sliding glass doors and making access to the lanai easier and more functional.

Malahide thin stone veneer from the Quarry Mill gives this pool a relaxing and old world feel. Malahide natural stone veneer has gray and white tones that will add a bit of simple charm to your projects. The irregular stone stapes and random edges will work well with projects like accent walls, exterior siding, and chimneys. These random shapes will create a unique pattern of stone and add dimension to your space. Malahide stones also adds an antique element to both rustic and contemporary decors. The neutral colors will blend well with both the dark or metallic tones of modern electronics and priceless collectables and art.

The entry into the sunken bar and grotto that sits inside the pool, Marquise Pools is just the best at Landscape Architecture and Master Planning Photography by Paul Ladd

Inspired by a Grecian structure overlooking blue water, this pool house features a kitchen, bath with changing room, and screened lounge area with TV. Photos by Scott Bergmann Photography.

We were contacted by a family named Pesek who lived near Memorial Drive on the West side of Houston. They lived in a stately home built in the late 1950’s. Many years back, they had contracted a local pool company to install an old lagoon-style pool, which they had since grown tired of. When they initially called us, they wanted to know if we could build them an outdoor room at the far end of the swimming pool. We scheduled a free consultation at a time convenient to them, and we drove out to their residence to take a look at the property. After a quick survey of the back yard, rear of the home, and the swimming pool, we determined that building an outdoor room as an addition to their existing landscaping design would not bring them the results they expected. The pool was visibly dated with an early “70’s” look, which not only clashed with the late 50’s style of home architecture, but guaranteed an even greater clash with any modern-style outdoor room we constructed. Luckily for the Peseks, we offered an even better landscaping plan than the one they had hoped for. We proposed the construction of a new outdoor room and an entirely new swimming pool. Both of these new structures would be built around the classical geometry of proportional right angles. This would allow a very modern design to compliment an older home, because basic geometric patterns are universal in many architectural designs used throughout history. In this case, both the swimming pool and the outdoor rooms were designed as interrelated quadrilateral forms with proportional right angles that created the illusion of lengthened distance and a sense of Classical elegance. This proved a perfect complement to a house that had originally been built as a symbolic emblem of a simpler, more rugged and absolute era. Though reminiscent of classical design and complimentary to the conservative design of the home, the interior of the outdoor room was ultra-modern in its array of comfort and convenience. The Peseks felt this would be a great place to hold birthday parties for their child. With this new outdoor room, the Peseks could take the party outside at any time of day or night, and at any time of year. We also built the structure to be fully functional as an outdoor kitchen as well as an outdoor entertainment area. There was a smoker, a refrigerator, an ice maker, and a water heater—all intended to eliminate any need to return to the house once the party began. Seating and entertainment systems were also added to provide state of the art fun for adults and children alike. We installed a flat-screen plasma TV, and we wired it for cable. The swimming pool was built between the outdoor room and the rear entrance to the house. We got rid of the old lagoon-pool design which geometrically clashed with the right angles of the house and outdoor room. We then had a completely new pool built, in the shape of a rectangle, with a rather innovative coping design. We showcased the pool with a coping that rose perpendicular to the ground out of the stone patio surface. This reinforced our blend of contemporary look with classical right angles. We saved the client an enormous amount of money on travertine by setting the coping so that it does not overhang with the tile. Because the ground between the house and the outdoor room gradually dropped in grade, we used the natural slope of the ground to create another perpendicular right angle at the end of the pool. Here, we installed a waterfall which spilled over into a heated spa. Although the spa was fed from within itself, it was built to look as though water was coming from within the pool. The ultimate result of all of this is a new sense of visual “ebb and flow,” so to speak. When Mr. Pesek sits in his couch facing his house, the earth appears to rise up first into an illuminated pool which leads the way up the steps to his home. When he sits in his spa facing the other direction, the earth rises up like a doorway to his outdoor room, where he can comfortably relax in the water while he watches TV. For more the 20 years Exterior Worlds has specialized in servicing many of Houston's fine neighborhoods.

© Javier Guillen Photo

Peter Phelps

The homeowners wanted to keep all the trees and create a symmetrical pool. He wanted symmetry but not a boring rectangle and she wanted pretty. The curved back wall was to flow with the trees, help avoid trees and maximize the space. The Black Pebble and dark tile were chosen to be more reflective and organic. The spa was round to provide better access off the porch. The vanishing edge effect also brought the reflection of the trees into the home, raised 18" gave great access and a wonderful focal point. The yard grade could not be modified with the trees so the pool drop beam minimized the wall requirements and provided an excellent seat to watch the golf course. A second wall kept the grade to a maximum of 24" drop and connected to the existing wall that we kept. Flanking both sides of the spa were tanning ledges for many to relax, accented by LED gushers. Copper firebowls and spill edges framed the view. Project designed by Mike Farley. Photo by Mike Farley.

As the evening light welcomes another glorious sunset, the reflection on the glass-like surface confirms the allure of an infinity pool. The serene view comes with the location, high on the Niagara Escarpment overlooking the rolling countryside near Rattlesnake Point.

This view is of the lounge pool (spa to right) looking at the grotto, slide waterfall (by Creative Rock formations) to be landscaped soon! Lounge pool spills two ways - into catch basin and into main pool. Spa spills into lounge pool and main pool spills into catch basin.

Private Poolhouse in Ismaning.