Pools & Spas
Ask the Masters has released a detailed, four-part series of podcasts profiling a stunning, challenging residential project in Scottsdale, Ariz., that includes multi-layered waterproofing, acrylic-panel installation, an all-tile finish -- and an incredible level of on-site coordination.
When you target the high-end custom market, you'll inevitably work for clients that expect, and can afford to get exactly what they want. That was certainly the situation with the project pictured here. The clients were extremely discerning and were involved the entire way with every little detail. Working that way can be challenging at times, and slow, but it can also bring out your best. We worked on the design of this project for over a year before breaking ground. It was hard trudging most of the way. There were countless discussions and ideas going back and forth, along with
Having a beautiful pool with a colored surface, especially one with a quartz or pebble plaster finish, is a popular choice among pool owners, and understandably so. The color adds ambiance to the setting and can make the water wonderfully attractive and inviting. That's why pool owners are willing to pay extra to have that special color enhance their water and by extension the entire backyard. With that investment in aesthetics, consumers rightfully expect the attractive appearance they've paid for to last a long time. In turn, builders, remodelers, and plasterers are motivated to provide colorfast surfaces that endure the dynamic swimming pool environment. Unfortunately, as we all know, that's not always the case - colors do sometimes fade. Because the interior pool surface is such a dominating
Elevated watershapes present challenges you don't typically encounter on inground projects. That was certainly the case with this ambitious residential installation where the rooftop pool and entryway waterfeatures were all integral to the home's luxurious, ultra-contemporary design. We were part of a project team that included a custom homebuilder, a company we had known of for years but had never worked with before because of a long working relationship the company had with another local pool builder. This project was unlike any that the pool company had ever tackled before and was
It's a swimming pool that doesn't exist anyplace else, one that stretched our skill sets to find creative solutions to surprisingly steep challenges. Last year, the project was awarded the Northeast Swimming Pool Association Outstanding Achievement Award, a source of pride given the project's high level of difficulty. The project is located on the Connecticut coast overlooking Long Island Sound on a beautiful 10-acre property in an upscale neighborhood. The house is brand new, built the same time as the pool. We were brought into the process by
As a designer/builder I openly admit that I am completely obsessed with water quality. A big part of why that's so is because I started out servicing pools. In fact, I really only moved into building them because I was so appalled by how builders in our area completely ignored the treatment side of the equation. It was so bad that I'd say the majority of pools we serviced had some form of shortcoming in the system that impacted water quality - undersized filters, only one skimmer, no chemical treatment technology, etc. - all which made
This was a project that might easily have run off the rails. First, the glass tile selected by the interior designer wasn't appropriate for pool applications. It might have been lovely as a backsplash in an interior kitchen or bathroom, but it came with no solid information about its source or pedigree that would have made it a wise choice for use in a critical outdoor application. Second, the tile was rectangular and, at one-and-a-quarter by five inches, was too big for its intended use as an all-tile finish for a complex pool and spa - particularly given
In recent years, I've become increasingly focused on landing projects on St. Thomas, St. John and a bunch of other paradisal surface eruptions off the east coast of North America: I like the people, enjoy the climate and truly love the laid-back island culture I find even among the high-end clients who call on me to design their poolscapes. Quite often, the settings are the far side of spectacular, too, with views of multi-hued coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean stretching out for miles, often interrupted by
From the start, this project was all about the view: The property sits above Lake Moumelle about 30 minutes outside Little Rock, Ark., in a small town called Roland. The lake serves as the primary reservoir for the state capital, so the waters are as serene and pristine as can be - no fishing, no boats, just thousands of acres of uninterrupted serenity. We at J. Brownlee Design (Nashville, Tenn.) had been asked to design the exteriors for a new home that was then under construction on the site. The homeowners, a couple with two children, and wanted a space that would be
It's a class of projects I'm coming across more and more often these days: Clients with homes in new developments want swimming pools and spas for their backyards, but the buildings are so big and consume so much of the available real estate that finding places to put worthy watershapes is a real challenge. The difficulty, of course, is that these homeowners are just like the owners of larger properties in wanting more than just pools and spas these days: They're thinking about generous seating and dining areas, outdoor
