ARTICLES Archives - Page 69 of 317

The project started with a touch of mystery, says Chuck Baumann, but not knowing the name of the client up front was no barrier to defining the site's potential -- or to asking for an expanded budget that would take full advantage of breathtaking views of San Francisco and its bay.

A Champion’s Pool

Some of the most intriguing projects begin with an element of mystery. I received a call from a prominent local designer who informed me that he was putting together a Dream Team for a special client and a special site - but for now, no name would be attached: All we were to receive was a reference number (15-LLC) and a location along with a preliminary plan and some photographs. I wasn't alone in receiving this preview: Other top-tier exterior-design professionals had been

The homeowner saw his backyard as an incurable disaster, but Shane LeBlanc found great potential on its open slope -- as well as a golden opportunity to test out some unique design concepts he figured he could use in transforming the unadorned space into something truly spectacular.

The Perfect Perch

We may have wrapped up the project discussed here more than five years ago, but I still see this backyard almost every time I take clients around to see examples of our work. The way I figure it, there's no better way to start a portfolio tour than by knocking prospects' socks off. There's lots of cool stuff going on here, some of which can readily be seen: the sweeping, Lautner-style perimeter-overflow edge around much of the free-form pool; the glorious water-on-water vanishing edge overlooking a large pond; a nice, full-featured spa; and the floating

Looping Petals

Everything I write about in these Travelogues is a personal experience, but this one in particular hits very close to home. I heard a lot about this sculpture, known now as "Heliconia Loop," for months as it was being created, following along avidly as the deadline for

Unruly Times

All summer long, I've been distracted by news stories that have just bugged the heck out of me. First, there have been the multiple items about foolish behavior at Rome's Trevi Fountain - among the most

Set deep in the mountains of South Korea, this golf course is a monumental achievement in land contouring and water management. In his concluding article about this enormous undertaking, Ken Alperstein covers what it took to go from compacted rubble to water-laced dreamscape.

Dressed for Success

A glance at our portfolio of dozens of golf-course projects dating back to 1990 shows that no two of them are exactly alike - despite the fact that our mission in each case has been exactly the same: It's our goal with every project to leave behind grassy patches that have seemingly been draped across natural terrain that has been there, untouched and untrammeled, since time immemorial. In other words, we've crafted elevation changes, watercourses, plantings and other defining features so carefully that it seems like folks who enjoy chasing little white, dimpled

On a Wire

‘Several years back, I was in a seminar at the International Pool & Spa Expo when the instructor asked everyone who had an e-mail address to raise a hand. ‘Way back then – it was in the late 1980s or perhaps even the early ’90s – using the Internet for communication was a brand-new concept to most people and there were only a few . . . in the room who lifted an arm. I wasn’t one of them,’ observed Brian Van Bower in opening his September 2008 Aqua Culture column, ‘and at that point I had no idea that e-mail and Web sites would ever

The clients wanted to add a pool to the existing features of their large backyard. Kurt Kraisinger was happy to oblige, but he had a grander vision for reorganizing their entire space around a core fire feature and had to figure out a way to persuade them to come along for the ride.

Room Additions

It's been my good fortune through the years to have worked with some wonderful clients who've inspired me to take the extra step, think in different ways and do everything possible to make them happy. This family was on that level: They love entertaining friends and relations, yet more than anything, the four of them enjoy spending time together - a throwback to the "Leave It to Beaver" spirit of the 1950s and '60s. At every turn, they were easygoing and patient in ways that made

Asked to beautify an unlovely, long-duration mess caused by a natural, spring-fed stream, Steve Sandalis knew from experience that working directly with Mother Nature is serious business. That's why he took a big step back and let the setting guide his efforts -- and his schedule.

Augmenting Reality

For a watershaper who's spent a career designing and installing natural-looking ponds, streams and waterfalls using pumps and liners, this project was both an unusual treat and a distinct challenge - a dream job, as I saw it. I was called to the property at the suggestion of a landscape-maintenance company that wanted nothing to do with what the homeowners were asking, and the reason was pretty obvious: A spring-fed stream flowed across the property as it had done for at least hundreds and perhaps thousands of years, and it needed

Wrapping up his discussion of the restoration of the Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle, Matthew Reynolds covers the painstaking process of resurfacing the shell with new marble as an exact replica of the original and making ready for the reintroduction of 350,000 gallons of water.

Interior Splendor

Working outdoors in the California sun is typically seen as a desirable perk, especially when, as in this case, the on-site alternative was working below ground in a confined labyrinth of narrow passages with limitless opportunities for banging your head. But here, it's my general sense that the plumbers working below ground on Hearst Castle's Neptune Pool (San Simeon, Calif.) had an easier row to hoe than did the marble applicators working in the open air. For one thing, tasks performed on the interior surface of the pool were

Proportional Response

‘One of the real tricks in any art form can be the challenge of exercising restraint,’ wrote Brian Van Bower to open his Aqua Culture column in September 2003. ‘Bigger isn’t always better, and both scale and size do matter. In other words, just because you can create something grand, it doesn’t always mean that you should.’ ‘This principle of proportionality has a sharp, specific meaning in the world of the custom watershaper,’ he continued, ‘especially when