vanishing edge
Given complete creative carte blanche by a client focused on fun and luxury, Alison Felschow capitalized on the property’s setting and sight lines to weave a layered design that brims with interesting details and winding contours—all with one major surprise along the way.
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There are projects in which the design details define every phase of the work from excavation to the interior finish. As builder Dave Penton explains here, this dazzling watershape was one of those where precise tolerances and creative execution led to a setting worthy of the stars.
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Most people probably don't think of geometry as being "cool." While studying points, planes, protractors and the Pythagorean theorem may not have seemed like any fun back in high school, when you use the mathematics of form to create a beautiful hillside watershape, lines and angles become far more interesting.
Ben Lasseter welcomes challenging projects, especially those where watershapes are integral to the home's design. Working as part of an exclusive project team, one that included a legendary architect, Lasseter's firm recently completed a shimmering all-white pool that is as much a part of the property's aesthetics as the roofline of the house itself.
This story is an example of what can happen when preparation meets opportunity. It started way back in 2014, when the client first hired me to build an acrylic fountain at an office building she owns in the Los Angeles area. She liked the results and asked me get involved at her residence in Rolling Hills, an upscale enclave on the scenic Palos Verdes peninsula overlooking the ocean, where she had a pool that was experiencing
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
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
Losing the Language Wars