Cambridge Ledgestone pavers

Best Outdoor Living Spaces: Pool House, Pool, Patio, and a Raised Spa

When you’re looking for the best outdoor living space ideas, it never hurts to consider award-winners, like our project showcase today.

Forgive our shameless self-promotion, but this backyard upgrade earned Deck and Patio a “Gold” award for geometric pool/spa design from the Association of Pool and Spa Professionals (APSP).

The main feature in this project’s design was a striking geometric pool, with a raised spa, surrounded by a multi-level patio and a custom pool house with dramatic pergola. Our own team pulled together additional pool design and build experts for the project.

“The use of technology from AutoCad to 3D animation helped our clients picture the project,” says Dave Stockwell. “Starting with this design idea, and working hand in hand with the clients and pool experts, we were able to produce an end result that is absolutely breathtaking.”

After these initial meetings and the opportunity to see what it would look like, the client was very enthusiastic, adds Dave. “The landscaping design offered easy to care for cutout areas around the pool and pool house that offers pops of color and green in a way that continued the overall geometric design.”

Pool With Raised Spa:

Pool With Raised Spa:

The overall plans had a large variety of details and was far from ordinary. The main feature, of course, was the pool and its raised spillover spa, all surrounded by a multi-level patio. The pavers we used were Cambridge Ledgestone 3 pavers — a product that evokes thoughts of old time European plazas.

 

Custom Pool House:

Custom Pool House:

A major part of the project was a custom designed pool house, complete with all the amenities of home. The pool house has a bathroom, changing room and living room with internet access, phone, flat screen TV and a spectacular view over looking the pool area. It is the perfect spot to take breaks from the spa – an important element for spa enjoyment and safety.

 

Custom Pergolas:

Custom Pergolas:

Stepping out of the pool house, a 25-foot wide shade pergola was built to shade guests from the hot summer sun. Underneath, there is also a stunning bar area, complete with sink and all components necessary to keep everyone supplied with fresh beverages. 

The bar and raised spa are faced with matching cultured stone, which ties the areas together from a design standpoint.

 

Design/Build 3D Automation:

Design/Build 3D Automation:

This 3D animation allowed the client to view every aspect of the project from any angle they wanted. The 3D technology also allowed us to make changes during the project. This gives clients confidence that last minute changes will fit the overall look we are trying to achieve.

 

How To Be Confident In Backyard Design Plans

Sometimes even having a reputation as a top notch landscape design/build firm isn’t enough. For, while these Deck and Patio clients were enthusiastic about our design ideas, not being able to picture how it all would look when it was finished concerned them.

This was understandable. We weren’t being hired to simply tidy up their yard. They were looking for a backyard retreat that included a pool with spillover spa, dramatic pool surround, pool house and bar area and attractive landscaping — all in a contemporary design that fitted their style.

3D Landscape Design Plan

3D Landscape Design Plan

“However, our design team had an easy solution,” says Deck and Patio owner Dave Stockwell. “We completed a 3D digital animation of the entire project using a special computer program. This permitted them to view every part of the retreat from any angle they wished. Once they saw what it all would look like, they were eager to go forward.”

Dave adds that having this computer program allowed us to document changes during the project — thereby giving the clients confidence that any alterations would appear as expected.

“A major part of their retreat was a custom-designed pool house, with all the amenities of a home. The patio was built with Cambridge Ledgestone 3 pavers that are reminiscent of old-time European plazas; but we laid them in a random pattern that complemented the lines of the geometric pool.”

Outside the pool house is a custom 25-foot-wide pergola that enhances their ability to entertain in comfort. Providing shade while sitting at the bar or in lounge chairs, it is also a beautiful architectural piece that adds drama to the space.

The project was recognized by the Association of Pool and Spa Professionals (APSP) with a Gold Award for geometric pool design.

“The award, although given to us, was as much the clients’ as ours,” says Dave. They contributed and participated at every level.”

 

 Backyard Retreat (Long Island/NY):

Backyard Retreat (Long Island/NY):

The main feature in this award-winning project was a striking geometric pool with a raised spa surrounded by a multi-level patio. Deck and Patio’s carpentry crew and masons worked tirelessly on this project. From the 25-foot-long microlam beam on the pergola to the smallest detail and door stop on the pool house, everything was built from scratch.

 

Raised Spa Over Geometric Pool:

Raised Spa Over Geometric Pool:

The raised spa, topped with the same Cambridge Ledgestone pavers used on the patio, spills over through a rectangular cutout that echoes the pool’s overall geometric design.

 

 

Outdoor Bar Under Shade Pergola:

Outdoor Bar Under Shade Pergola:

As the clients step out of the pool house, they walk under a 25-foot-wide shade pergola making this space ideal for entertaining; there is also a handsome bar area, fitted with a sink and all the components necessary to keep everyone supplied with fresh beverages.

 

 

Pool House with Pergola (Long Island/NY):

Pool House with Pergola (Long Island/NY):

A major part of the project was this custom-designed pool house, complete with a bathroom, changing room, and living room with internet access, phone, flat screen TV and a spectacular view overlooking the pool.

 

Quality Pool & Spa Surrounds Provide Best Seats in the House

We love our backyards and spend as much time sitting around the pool or spa as swimming or relaxing in them. Indeed, the atmosphere of a water feature offers an ideal space for entertaining, sunbathing, talking, eating, and pure relaxation.

Therefore, making the right choice for a pool or spa surround will definitely increase the comfort and enjoyment of the outdoor experience.  Below are four examples of quality pool and spa surround options that we have used for a few of our clients. We designed and built these, as we do all our projects, with function, beauty, and durability in mind. The result being that such new outdoor living areas quickly become the best seats in the house.

The following four examples showcase (1) composite decking, (2) all natural hardwood, (3) concrete pavers, and (4) limestone. Pull up a lounge chair and enjoy!

 

Trex Transcend Decking

Trex Transcend Decking

1. For this very special pool and spa (unseen) surround, we chose composite materials manufactured by Trex Transcend Decking. This decking has a wood grain appearance, but is actually made from combined plastic and wood. Note how the eye tricks you into thinking you are looking at solid wood.

With some exceptions, composite decking, with its protective shell, is unrivaled for being fade, stain, scratch and mold resistant. The “Gravel Path” color used here enhances the wood grain appearance with earth tones. Tip: Whenever possible, you want a deck to go all the way around a pool as seen here.

 

 

Brazilian Hardwood Decking

Brazilian Hardwood Decking

2. For this project, we used a durable Brazilian Walnut hardwood. This all-natural wood offers a warm choice for pools and spas due to ease of construction and is a particularly smart choice for an above-ground pool or spa.

When handled properly, it can make a relatively inexpensive above-ground water feature, such as this spa, look like an in-ground pool. This particular natural wood is very strong, hard and durable and resists splintering, termites, wear, rot, fire, chemicals and marine borers — and almost every threat imaginable. And because it is all natural wood, it is recyclable at the end of what is sure to be a long service life.

 

 

Concrete Pavers for Pool Surround

Concrete Pavers for Pool Surround

3. We used concrete pavers for this pool and spa surround. These pavers offer a durable, interlocking alternative to asphalt and poured concrete.

Extremely durable and beautiful, concrete pavers won’t show signs of color loss or fading over time, and have blemish-free surfaces. We used Cambridge Ledgestone pavers (“Toffee Onyx” color, in random pattern) to create the natural rustic appearance seen here.

 

 

Travertine Pool Surround

Travertine Pool Surround

4. We designed and built this lovely natural limestone pool surround using Travertine, which has gone through a “brushing” process to obtain the warm and antique look it enjoys. It comes in tiles with hand-chiseled (chipped) edges with an antiqued and unfilled surface.

Valued for its banded, pitted “distressed” appearance, Travertine adds rich, distinctive character that stems from the way the limestone is formed: being deposited at the mouth of mineral springs and in caves. For this pool surround, we added a stone ledge, which, together with the limestone, suggests a romantic Roman bath.

 

 

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