On the Waterfront
Did you ever have a client who knew exactly what he or she wanted in a project, only to change direction once he or she heard the price? That happened with the poolscape discussed in this article - but with an unusual twist. The homeowner, a prominent South Florida businessperson, had purchased the waterfront property with its existing pool. And he wasn't finished: He also purchased two neighboring homes, flattening one to make way for a sculpture garden and setting up the other as staff housing. When we saw the site for the first time, the main residence was
Stone Stepping
‘Stairs, to borrow an immortal phrase from Rodney Dangerfield, “get no respect.” ’   That’s how Bruce Zaretsky opened his August 2008 column in WaterShapes, then continued:  ‘[I]f my observations through the years tell me anything, the stairs set in far too many landscapes are strictly utilitarian objects – no more than a means of getting from one level of a space to another.  The only thought that seems to go into some of them has to do with avoiding trip hazards, which is important but hardly the most
By the Books
One of my favorite destinations in downtown Los Angeles is the Central Library. Not only is it an amazing resource with the books and recordings it circulates to citizens and scholars, but it also houses wonderful display spaces where all sorts of thoughtfully curated exhibitions await visitors. I've stopped in many times since the 1960s and count it among southern California's
Hurtful Impulses
The stories I've seen hurt my heart. There was the one about the woman who accosted a teenage boy who'd been invited to swim in a neighborhood pool, telling him to get out or she'd call
Moving a Mountain
We've participated in the construction of lots of great golf courses through the years, but this one was something special. It started for us at Pinnacle Design (Palm Desert, Calif.) with a call from one of the world's top golf-course architects, Ted Robinson, Jr., who let us know that we had to rush to prepare a presentation for a client in South Korea. As he explained the situation, if we couldn't win over the chairman of the conglomerate that was building the 27-hole course, the job would go to
Healing Ways
Through the years, Bruce Zaretsky has designed enough healing gardens that he knows just how comforting they can be for patients, caregivers and loved ones.  But they only work, he notes, when designers keep some basic principles and several user-specific design factors in mind.  
Beneath the Shell
It's not often that an opportunity to work on anything as renowned as the Neptune Pool comes around. Built first as a reflecting pool, transformed into an oval-shaped plunge pool and, as Hearst Castle assumed massive proportions, ultimately finished as a 350,000-gallon swimming pool that's probably the most widely recognized watershape in the world, it's a pleasure just to see it, let alone help preserve it for future generations. We at Terracon, an engineering firm based in Olathe, Kans., came to the project through our acquisition late in 2014 of Rowley International, the aquatic design and engineering company based in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. William Rowley, its principal and a specialist in sophisticated aquatic complexes - and, equally important
Changing Spaces
I've noticed through the years that, from my perspective at least, some of my favorite projects come with the best stories. The poolscape seen here is definitely one of these. The client started things off by purchasing a house in an ultra-high-end neighborhood, then personalized it with all sorts of details, materials and finishes that turned the existing house into an extremely comfortable Country French-style estate. The one element it lacked, he figured, was a nice swimming pool. While he was considering his options, the home next door - one with
Neat and Clean
‘Perception is reality,’ observed Brian Van Bower at the head of his Aqua Culture column for August 2003.  ‘Regardless of whether that’s right or wrong, you are judged by appearances.’   ‘If your own appearances mean ugly-looking vehicles, sloppy-looking employees, shabby offices and job sites that look like disaster areas, you will inevitably be judged with that image by the clients who have hired you and by anyone else exposed to
Merited Attention
It started as a trickle and then became a flood unlike anything I've witnessed in more than 30 years of focusing on watershapes. Almost every spring since 1986, I've encountered photo features in magazines (and now on web sites) purporting to cover either