ARTICLES Archives - Page 278 of 312

Widely regarded as one of the country’s most prestigious golf courses, The Quarry Golf Club at La Quinta, Calif., is also a significant point of pride for Ken Alperstein, managing partner at Pinnacle Design Co., a firm that specializes in creating expressive landscapes and watershapes for golf links nationwide. Here, he describes what went into the waterfalls, streams, ponds, rockwork and landscaping that lend the setting such powerful charm.

Digging the Quarry

Tucked into a small cove in the mountains behind La Quinta in California's lower Coachella Valley, The Quarry Golf Club is hidden, ultra-private and basically unknown to all but members of the golfing elite and the wealthy few who play the course. First conceived by entrepreneur Bill Morrow and designed by renowned golf course architect Tom Fazio, the course is a prime example of just how beautiful golf courses can be - and of how critical a role landscaping and watershapes can play in defining their character and aesthetics. Our challenge was to embroider the course's 18 PGA-sanctioned, championship-caliber holes with

Good to Glow

For the most part, the designers and builders of pools, spas and other watershapes visualize their projects in full sun, install them during daylight hours and seldom (if ever) see them after the sun goes down. That's both a problem and a shame, and it's reflected in the fact that the run of projects you encounter by mainline pool-industry folks - and, to a lesser extent, by people from the landscape trades - tend to treat the lighting of exterior spaces as an afterthought if it's really thought about at all. In fact, I'll go so far as to say that

Maples in the Garden

If I could point to one plant that will consistently stand out in just about any garden, it would have to be the maple. Virtually no Asian-style garden would be complete without one, and they fit beautifully into gardens of many other styles as well. I particularly like pairing maples with watershapes because of their tendency to soften the edges of typical hardscapes and the way they are reflected by the water. When placed well, a specimen or single maple can indeed be a key

Permitting the Process

As I discussed in the June installment of this column, the construction of a backyard watershape environment requires careful and clear coordination - and sensitivity to the fact that watching the process unfold can be unpleasant or even traumatic for your clients. Without a doubt, the key to managing the process so that your clients don't become unhappy requires purposeful, up-front communication that sets realistic expectations for how the project will progress - and when. Similarly, you should also set up expectations for the inevitable

A Hidden Place

Earlier this year, I was treated to a guided tour of The Quarry Golf Club in La Quinta, Calif., by landscape architect Ken Alperstein. Although I had seen pictures of the course and was also

This elegant swimming pool/spa combination in southern California’s Malibu Colony was one of the most challenging projects designer and builder David Tisherman had ever tackled. Here and now, with all of the hurdles crossed and details complete, he invites you to join in a visual celebration of the project – one that caused him to reach to the outer limits of his creativity, expertise and stamina.

Great Wavelengths

When you look at this project in finished form, there's no way to see the months of struggle or the overall level of difficulty that went into its creation. You don't see the fact, for example, that we discovered while excavating the courtyard that the house itself was in imminent danger of collapsing. You don't see that the narrow access way buckled when we first started working, or the ugly trauma of the broken septic tank. You can't see the continuous changes in thought, direction and design that went into the deck, or the tremendous time and effort required to make the

In all its forms, says landscape architect and pool contractor Mark Holden, tile is among the most beautiful of all finish materials used in the construction of watershapes – and has qualities he uses both to fuel his creative fires and draw his clients into deep, rich veins of design potential. Thoughtful use of this material is the subject of this feature, the first in a series of articles on finish materials commonly (and not so commonly) used by watershapers.

Material Issues

It's a little too easy to lose sight of what holds the most meaning our work as watershapers - even when it's out there in plain view. In fact, if we're to be honest in assessing the palette of finish materials we use, I think most of us would have to concede that these products can become so familiar that thinking creatively about the full spectrum of their possibilities is something that often falls by the wayside. I believe we should be on guard against

Made with fallen trees or driftwood, the vertical forms sculpted by Steve Kuntz evoke the classic totem poles of the Pacific Northwest, but they are eerily modern just the same. This is particularly true in those cases where he includes running water as part of the composition, turning his sculptures into watershapes that explore the special relationship between wood and water in ways that are both soothing and surprising.

Standing Tall

The fire came swiftly, sweeping through the dry, late-summer undergrowth, and the land was quickly blackened and denuded. A month later, the rains came, hard and lashing, and rivulets of water ran down the hillside. Torrents of mud and stone ground away the soil and washed out the base of a tree that happened to be in the way. The tree fell. Branches became splinters on the ground. The noise the tree had made as it fell was intense: a cracking and groaning sound followed by crackles as limbs snapped against still-standing trees. Now it lay there, its roots all but pulled from the ground.Ten years passed, and as the tree's bark rotted, small saplings had begun to grow from its base. The creek ran close by, gurgling and never-ending, its water wending its way among the rocks and other fallen trees toward the ocean just half a mile away. This tree would serve a purpose in its death: In my work as a sculptor, I seek out

A unique mix of folk art and high technology, the Uncle Wilbur Fountain in Colorado Springs, Colo., delights area children and parents alike with its music, animation and dancing waters. Achieving these effects required great focus, says Anne Gunn of St. Louis-based fountain design/manufacturing firm HydroDramatics, as the design team carried a whimsical work of art from concept through to a most vivid reality. (Photo by Jacquie Rogers)

Water and Whimsy

It began as the playful vision of Bob and Kat Tudor, husband-and-wife philanthropists and founders of The Smokebrush Theatre in Colorado Springs, Colo., who decided one day to donate a unique fountain to the children of their city. Now that vision, fully realized, belongs to the citizens of this sprawling town at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in the form of a dazzling water display and a folksy character named Uncle Wilber. Multi-talented artists in their own rights, the Tudors developed the aesthetic and creative concepts but knew from the start that they would need to enlist advanced technical expertise to

Views of Pools

Most coffee-table books on swimming pools published to date have dealt almost exclusively with the work of architects and landscape architects. The past year, however, has seen the publication of three new books about pools - each of them focusing primarily on the work of pool contractors. The result is three books that cover a broad range of styles and designs - a trio I've already found to be extremely useful as