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 was a complete front and back transformation. We took the dirt from the back yard and used it to level the front yard and made both more useable. The main feature was a large gunite swimming pool, with built in diving board. We also built in the client's trampoline as well and left room for their play set and play house. It was a kids paradise! The kool deck was nice and cool in the summer and allowed for barefoot basketball games. We designed and installed a large Cedar screened in porch with fireplace and grill. Just off the porch was a hot tub. We completed it with lush landscaping, irrigation and lighting. Mark Schisler, Legacy Landscapes, Inc.

The 15’ x 35’ saltwater pool goes to a depth of 9 feet. Natural stone tile around the waterline harmonizes with the flagstone. The pool interior is a pebble finish, with light staining for a little color in the aggregate. It’s more durable than a smooth finish and doesn’t show stains.

A long, narrow swimming pool fits into the otherwise slim side yard. Bronze spouts, fabricated by a west coast artist, allow the pool to function as a decorative water feature.

Custom Rectangular Pool with natural stone raised wall, sheer descent waterfalls, & diving board in Lower Salford Township, Montgomery County, PA by www.custompoolsbybarry.com

Location: Tampa, FL, USA Hive Outdoor Living Mocha Travertine, Wet Edge Satin Matrix, Rico Rock custom waterfall and boulder cave, bubblers, SR Smith basketball hoop,

Fire pit with fiber optic lighting, recycled glass chips, and built in seating

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.

Featured on HGTV's "Cool Pools", the "Scuba Pool" was inspired by the homeowner's love for scuba diving, so we created stone tunnels and a deep diving area as well as lazy rivers and two grottos connected by a native Oklahoma boulder waterfall. A large beach entry gives young ones plenty of play space as well. These homeowners can entertain large groups easily with this multi-function outdoor space. Design and Construction by Caviness Landscape Design, Inc. photos by KO Rinearson

Maddox Photography

Beautiful resort-like cocktail pool with a cocktail table. Includes three water features and glass tile. Custom outdoor kitchen with a Big Green Egg and a cozy covered seating area.

Benjamin Lasseter

Gary McDonald