Ben Hilliard

Setting of traditional enjoyment with outstanding workmanship and design

Photo owned by Pratt Guys - NOTE: This photo can only be used/published online, digitally, TV and print with written permission from Pratt Guys.

The classic timeless, highly desired Hampton shape pool with LED lightning and dramatic stage steps. This yard displays a Hampton like feel with a small-scale Bluestone patio surrounded by a considerable amount of grass. This backyard includes multiple entertainment zones including the custom pool house, the sunbathing area, the raised conversational lounge seating, the elevated dining area, and the grass area for children to run and play. This backyard flaunts the Bergen County, New Jersey outdoor living trend.

©Melissa Clark Photography. All rights reserved.

To enhance privacy for the small 50’ wide by 46’ deep backyard, mature columnar cedars were planted on three sides to replace the existing smaller foliage. The three LED pool lights, along with the generous light from the pergola and dining deck, provide all the illumination that’s needed for an evening outdoors.

My client for this project was a builder/ developer. He had purchased a flat two acre parcel with vineyards that was within easy walking distance of downtown St. Helena. He planned to “build for sale” a three bedroom home with a separate one bedroom guest house, a pool and a pool house. He wanted a modern type farmhouse design that opened up to the site and to the views of the hills beyond and to keep as much of the vineyards as possible. The house was designed with a central Great Room consisting of a kitchen area, a dining area, and a living area all under one roof with a central linear cupola to bring natural light into the middle of the room. One approaches the entrance to the home through a small garden with water features on both sides of a path that leads to a covered entry porch and the front door. The entry hall runs the length of the Great Room and serves as both a link to the bedroom wings, the garage, the laundry room and a small study. The entry hall also serves as an art gallery for the future owner. An interstitial space between the entry hall and the Great Room contains a pantry, a wine room, an entry closet, an electrical room and a powder room. A large deep porch on the pool/garden side of the house extends most of the length of the Great Room with a small breakfast Room at one end that opens both to the kitchen and to this porch. The Great Room and porch open up to a swimming pool that is on on axis with the front door. The main house has two wings. One wing contains the master bedroom suite with a walk in closet and a bathroom with soaking tub in a bay window and separate toilet room and shower. The other wing at the opposite end of the househas two children’s bedrooms each with their own bathroom a small play room serving both bedrooms. A rear hallway serves the children’s wing, a Laundry Room and a Study, the garage and a stair to an Au Pair unit above the garage. A separate small one bedroom guest house has a small living room, a kitchen, a toilet room to serve the pool and a small covered porch. The bedroom is ensuite with a full bath. This guest house faces the side of the pool and serves to provide privacy and block views ofthe neighbors to the east. A Pool house at the far end of the pool on the main axis of the house has a covered sitting area with a pizza oven, a bar area and a small bathroom. Vineyards were saved on all sides of the house to help provide a private enclave within the vines. The exterior of the house has simple gable roofs over the major rooms of the house with sloping ceilings and large wooden trusses in the Great Room and plaster sloping ceilings in the bedrooms. The exterior siding through out is painted board and batten siding similar to farmhouses of other older homes in the area. Clyde Construction: General Contractor Photographed by: Paul Rollins

This backyard space offers plenty of sunny and shaded areas with a cabana, a pergola, and plantings. Family and guests will find a thoughtfully located outdoor kitchen with visibility to all the outdoor entertaining. Near the swimming pool, is a built-in spa on the opposite side of the cabana - which contains foldaway glass doors for easy access. The golf enthusiasts will find themselves on the putting green tucked away in the corner of the property. Throughout the spaces, Unilock Brussels block, Cumberland brown, and a larger veneer stone was used to tie together the beiges on the house. Final pops of colors come from the plantings.

Aerial picture of the redesigned pool area. The pool area and deck are meant to maximize the outdoor space as well as give an unencumbered view to the water, the main reason the clients purchased the house. Photo by Susan Sotera

Photography by Catherine Tighe

During construction and installation. The pool was designed to be semi-in ground with an adjacent raised pool terrace. The steps leading up the pool terrace were 'Blue Mist' granite units with matching granite pavers.