A Memorial area family commissioned us to create a natural swimming pool in their back yard. The family already had a standard pool on premises, but it was isolated in an area of the yard not particularly suited to seating guests or hosting get-togethers. What they wanted was a second, natural swimming pool built that would serve as the hub of a new home outdoor entertainment area consisting of a new stone patio, comfortable outdoor seating, and a fire pit. They wanted to create something unique that would preserve as much of the natural features of the landscape as possible, but that would also be completely safe and fully functional as a swimming pool. We decided to design this new landscaping plan around a pre-existent waterfall that was already on the property. This feature was too attractive to ignore, and provided the ideal anchor point for a new gathering area. The fountain had been designed to mimic a natural waterfall, with stones laid on top of one another in such a way as to look like a mountain cliff where water spontaneously springs from the top and cascades down the rocks. At first glance, many would miss the opportunity that such a structure provides; assuming that a fountain designed like a cliff would have to be completely replaced to install a natural swimming pool. Our landscaping designers, however, came up with a landscape plan to transform one archetypal form into the other by simply adding to what was already there. At the base of the rocks we dug a basin. This basin was oblong in shape and varied in degrees of depth ranging from a few inches on the end to five feet in the middle. We directed the flow of the water toward one end of the basin, so that it flowed into the depression and created a swimming pool at the base of the rocks. This was easy to accomplish because the fountain lay parallel to the top of a natural ravine located toward the back of the property, so water flow was maintained by gravity. This had the secondary effect of creating a new natural aesthetic. The addition of the basin transformed the fountain’s appearance to look more like a cliff you would see in a river, where the elevation suddenly drops, and water rushes over a series of rocks into a deeper pool below. Children and guests swimming in this new structure could actually imagine themselves in a Rocky Mountain River. We then heated the swimming pool so it could be enjoyed in the winter as well as the summer, and we also lit the pool using two types of luminaries for complimentary effects. For vegetation, we used mercury vapor down lights to backlight surrounding trees and to bring out the green color of foliage in and around the top of the rocks. For the brown color of the rocks themselves, and to create a sparkling luminance rising up and out of the water, we installed incandescent, underwater up lights. The lights were GFIC protected to make the natural swimming pool shock proof and safe for human use.

San Rafael, CA / photo: Jay Graham

D Cadwallader

Pool with Pennsylvania bluestone coping and decks, copper scupper fountains surrounded by a lush landscape. Photo By Sara Donaldson

Classic Designs often work the best for a traditional style home set on a rural estate in Princeton NJ. For the dinning terrace a bluestone patio was installed with a brick inlayed rug. Plantings beds filled with perennials and flowering shrubs surround the patio and lead you down to the swimming pool. Built at existing grade to meet DEP regulations the swimming pool is the centerpiece of the back yard. The walls were installed with Pennsylvania Fieldstone and the pool patio is Blue/ Grey Sandstone. The project was collaboration between Harmony Design Group and Ronni Hock Garden & Landscape. Ronni Hock is also responsible for the photographs.

Karen Tropea

Photo Credit: Michele Lee Wilson

An entry can be gated and private while still being friendly looking. The arbor, stacked stone, and the topiaries add a sense of "home" to this custom made gate.

Seana Cullinan

Back yard space for entertaining includes a gas fire-pit, infinity-edge water fountain, and curving steel and cedar pergola. Floor is paved with Cut Bluestone and features a soft green divider. Rain garden helps collect and divert water around the patio and down the slope. Ipe deck with stainless steel cable railings and wide easy-to-navigate steps provides dining space next to the kitchen and access to the patio below. Dry seating area below deck provides another intimate space. Front yard design takes advantage of mature maples, while updating plantings and adding lovely cedar and steel screens.

Nate R. - http://www.nrphotography.org/

We loved this Japanese soaking tub nestled in a bed of river rocks against the bluestone wall.

A pathway draws the viewer to step beyond the garden wall.