details
When I sit down with clients for our first face-to-face meeting, we discuss a range of issues that will guide me when I return to my studio and get down to designing a watershape and surrounding areas for them. We'll talk about colors, materials, the location of the pool, their preferences in art, the way they entertain and, perhaps most important of all, how they plan to use their backyard and swimming pool. Let's focus on that last point: When we talk about how a pool is going to be used, what I really want to know is how it will be used on a daily or weekly basis (for swimming, exercise, play or simply as a visual), not how it's going to be used once or twice each year when they throw a big pool party. My thought is that these clients will
When I sit down with clients for our first face-to-face meeting, we discuss a range of issues that will guide me when I return to my studio and get down to designing a watershape and surrounding areas for them. We'll talk about colors, materials, the location of the pool, their preferences in art, the way they entertain and, perhaps most important of all, how they plan to use their backyard and swimming pool. Let's focus on that last point: When we talk about how a pool is going to be used, what I really want to know is how it will be used on a daily or weekly basis (for swimming, exercise, play or simply as a visual), not how it's going to be used once or twice each year when they throw a big pool party. My thought is that these clients will
Tackling large, custom watershaping projects is all about the synergy between my clients and me: There simply must be a fit, or the process just won't work. Last month, we discussed the importance of setting up proper expectations from the moment a client makes initial contact and you pick up the phone. This time, I'll cover what happens if the early stages of the relationship go well enough that a face-to-face meeting is in order. This is the session during which I discover whether or not there's truly a
Tackling large, custom watershaping projects is all about the synergy between my clients and me: There simply must be a fit, or the process just won't work. Last month, we discussed the importance of setting up proper expectations from the moment a client makes initial contact and you pick up the phone. This time, I'll cover what happens if the early stages of the relationship go well enough that a face-to-face meeting is in order. This is the session during which I discover whether or not there's truly a
Through the years in these pages and elsewhere, I've been a persistent critic of the shortcomings of the watershaping trades in general - and especially of the pool and spa industry in which I've operated for more than 25 years. Sometimes I've been harsher than others, but my intent has invariably been to define the difference between quality work that elevates the trade and the junk that's held back our industry's reputation. I've never named names, but I've been particularly hard on practitioners who seem eternally stuck in old ways of thinking and working: Their work seldom lines up with the best efforts of which the industry is capable. Just recently, I had a long talk with WaterShapes' editor in which we discussed the development of a new approach to
Through the years in these pages and elsewhere, I've been a persistent critic of the shortcomings of the watershaping trades in general - and especially of the pool and spa industry in which I've operated for more than 25 years. Sometimes I've been harsher than others, but my intent has invariably been to define the difference between quality work that elevates the trade and the junk that's held back our industry's reputation. I've never named names, but I've been particularly hard on practitioners who seem eternally stuck in old ways of thinking and working: Their work seldom lines up with the best efforts of which the industry is capable. Just recently, I had a long talk with WaterShapes' editor in which we discussed the development of a new approach to
All projects come to an end, of course, but there are times when the inevitable takes its own, sweet time. The project featured here, for example, took more than six years from the time I first met the clients until we wrapped things up. Unlike some projects that take a long time because of ongoing problems, change orders and difficult challenges, this one was very much a labor of love from start to finish. Sure, there were some tough spots, but for the most part, this was one of those jobs that we watershapers and landscape professionals can only hope will come along from time to time - projects we don't mind extending through a period of years. This one had everything going for it, starting with great clients who had the resources to do something special as well as playful, fun-loving personalities that made the process exciting and rewarding. Then there was the property: an acre of ocean-view hillside in Brentwood, Calif., with mature trees and a big, Cape Cod-style house that was going through extensive remodeling during the time we were involved with the landscape. The clients wanted something that was elegant but playful, with formal lines and structures but a light overall touch. They insisted on beautiful materials, were heavily involved in every decision and, ultimately, had our firm, New Leaf Landscape of Agoura Hills, Calif., work with
Elegance, romance, subtlety, tranquility: All these words speak to a potential of watershaping that is realized far too infrequently. If ever there were a common detail that typifies these missed opportunities, I'd have to give the prize to the standard waterfall/waterwall effects seen on too many pools and other watershapes these days. I can think of nothing less compelling than the typical sheet of water spilling down the face of a wall or in front of some other structure on its way into a pool or spa. This look is not only overused, but
Many of the projects I tackle are largely about beauty and elegance and striking just the right balances between my watershaping and the setting, the architecture of the home and the character of my clients. In the case of the project depicted here, however, a couple of other considerations jumped into the mix - including impulses for fun and excitement as well as an overriding need to raise the visual energy level to align with the clients' personalities and a glorious setting. The result is an exquisitely adorned watershape that stands as one of the purest expressions of whimsy and unbridled joy I've ever produced. Truly, it all flowed from the clients and the setting. The clients are quite educated, well-traveled and sophisticated and had both the resources and the desire to do something special. Moreover, they're about as nice a couple as you could ever hope to meet and had refined tastes to match. As for the setting, we're talking beauty in the extreme: The home is a modern masterpiece perched atop a bluff in Malibu, Calif., with 180-degree ocean views and spectacular distant vistas. The only clinker on the property was the existing pool and the surrounding decks - an aggressively plain, kidney-shaped drag surrounded by equally boring decks. It was time for
With some details, seeing is believing. That's certainly the case with the one we'll consider in this column, where the images will do much of the work in defining a simple but elegant way of making a statement with any raised bond beam or wall. Yet again, it's testimonial to the good things that happen when watershapers know how to control materials and infuse their work with visual appeal. Most of the time when pool people build small or medium-size walls, they'll automatically be topped with some form of coping or capstone - anything from poured-in-place concrete or stone to brick or some pre-fabricated coping. Many of these walls are
