Qualified Remodeler Room Remodel of the Year & Outdoor Living 2015 NAHB Best in American Living Awards Best in Region -Middle Atlantic 2015 NAHB Best in American Living Awards Platinum Winner Residential Addition over $100,000 2015 NAHB Best in American Living Awards Platinum Winner Outdoor Living

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.

We had an open canvas for our ideas, we visioned a custom open porch and composite deck with a 35’ custom outdoor kitchen, overlooking a natural freeform custom pool, large tanning shelf, 25’ waterslide for the kids and adults, and the raised stone veneered oversized spa, all framed with a simple low maintenance landscape pallet. For the cool evenings, we pictured a two-tier gas fire table outside of the spa where the family and friends could sit and enjoy a panoramic view of their entire future backyard.

Photos by Eric Delaforce

Custom designed pool for Environmental Pools in Chelmsford, MA. Utilizing vanishing edge spa, stepping pads across a tanning shelf, raised water feature, and native stone texture vernacular.

Outdoor lighting makes this a truly magical space for nighttime relaxation.

We had an open canvas for our ideas, we visioned a custom open porch and composite deck with a 35’ custom outdoor kitchen, overlooking a natural freeform custom pool, large tanning shelf, 25’ waterslide for the kids and adults, and the raised stone veneered oversized spa, all framed with a simple low maintenance landscape pallet. For the cool evenings, we pictured a two-tier gas fire table outside of the spa where the family and friends could sit and enjoy a panoramic view of their entire future backyard.

Photos by Eric Delaforce

Jane McDougall

Hampton Fine Exteriors

Creative use for a natural stone slab as a diving board.

A new homeowner of a beautiful Mediterranean style home requested a pool combining a variety of outdoor living amenities. The request included an infinity edge pool and spa that would accommodate an area for a volleyball net, bar top, and fire pit all within a natural environment; and of course, a budget. Needless to say, it was a challenging process combining all of these requests and blending them into a space dedicated for a pool that led us to the aquatic environment seen in these images. The project resulted in building a large free form pool with strong classical lines, shapes, and symmetry. The shape allows the pool to blend within the natural environment as well as continue to be a strong architectural element that compliments the beauty of the Mediterranean home. The infinity edge spa includes 14 waterway jets with the nearest possible equipment location that is more than 100’ away. The pool was not only an aesthetic design challenge but also required mutual respect for the project’s complex hydraulic and construction details. In the process of construction, the homeowner decided the infinity edge basin should also be designed to function as a secondary spa. This secondary basin/spa can be used in large entertaining situations or if the family wants to take advantage of the fire pit while soaking. The glass tile was selected to magnify the beauty of the infinity edge spa and the overall design. The vessel was carefully cleaned and sealed to minimize efflorescence and staining that typically occurs over time. The decorative pedestals and urns seen around the pool edge are equipped for irrigation and drainage to allow for ease of year around maintenance and combine the elegance of the landscape with the hardscape. This Mediterranean inspired project blends some of the best materials available today and is the focal point of the home owner’s new property. Photography: Daniel Driensky

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