castings
Transforming a tired, old swimming pool into an inviting naturalistic environment is always a challenge, but when the client is Playboy's Hugh Hefner, the project becomes an adventure as well. The original lagoon pool at Playboy Mansion West in Los Angeles, Calif., is still in great shape as a result of outstanding design, construction and maintenance. In expanding the property to include the estate across the street, the plan was to create a "luxury annex" for the main compound. Among the extensive renovations undertaken at the new property was the complete renovation of the backyard and its swimming pool. As was the case with the famed pool and grotto, the concept was to
Some may disagree with me, but I don't see faux rockwork as a "sculptor's art form." For more than 25 years, I've made sure that Mother Nature is the one who does the detail work; what I do is take copies of her artwork to job sites and install them in creative and interesting ways. A long time ago, I developed a method of making castings of real rocks using my own formulation of fiberglass and epoxy. These are exact replicas of the real thing: Once mounted on steel structures in swimming pools or other hardscape applications, the panels are
