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All Photos/outdoor/landscapes : hardscapes/pools, tubs, showers : swimming

Outdoor Hardscapes Swimming Pools, Tubs, Showers Design Photos and Ideas

Fung and Blatt worked slowly on the project over five years. But it was a rhythm Mary and Carlton appreciated, as it allowed for the design to emerge in close dialogue with the site.
Another move that reduces the house's environmental impact is the inclusion of photovoltaic panels on the roof. The panels generate enough energy to offset 95% of the house’s consumption.
Danny envisioned the space between the ADU and the house as an informal place to gather. "It creates a sort of courtyard sensibility, which works for our intergenerational family dynamics."
The courtyard brings natural light into the lower level of the home, which has a den/media room, guest suite/workout area, and storage and mechanical.
“The pool house was something I always wanted to build,” Robert says. The bar is the main attraction. And next to it, a lime tree is within reach to make fresh gin and tonics.
Guy (holding Pickles the cat) and Mark transformed the backyard, adding a pool and planting sycamore trees and native grasses. A custom dining table by Angel City Lumber is paired with vintage chairs from Amsterdam Modern.
The expansive, covered patio that extends from the living space features an outdoor kitchen and adjoining pizza oven. “My favorite aspect of the project was that the clients embraced the idea that home can be more than just shelter,” says architect Cavin Costello. “It can be a place that incentivizes you to socialize, think, eat, work, create, and play differently.”
“The intention of the landscape design was to create a tranquil refuge in a vibrant neighborhood for the family to entertain, play, and spend quality time together outdoors,” says the team at The Green Room Landscape Architecture. “The architecture produced multiple lines of sight that penetrate through the home, connecting the front and back yards with similar plant materials, creating a feeling that the house was planted in a scenic Sonoran meadow.”
People frequently talk about "good bones" when it comes to purchasing a home, but it's not crystal clear what that actually means. Here, we walk you through the process of spotting a diamond in the rough.
“The pitched ceilings and ribbon of clerestory windows make the interior feel more spacious than it is,” notes Gooden.
The pool and fire pit in the courtyard are at the heart of the home. The olive trees and native Ironwood trees planted around these spaces soften the rectilinear architecture.
Before the home was built, the lot was almost entirely grass—however now the landscape is composed of desert and native vegetation. It also includes productive gardens of numerous types, including herb and vegetable plantings and citrus and stone fruit groves. These, in combination with the chicken eggs, provide a healthy, local food source.
The Hourglass Corral is a four-bedroom, 3000-square-foot home that derives its tessellated form from the architects’ application of the Voronoi diagram.
The entire property consists of 90,000 square meters, or about 22 acres, on the island of Milos in Greece. Each of the five corrals are defined in the landscape by a white border.
The rear patio was refreshed with new concrete pavers. A strip of grass accents the perimeter of the pool and hot tub. The boulders by the hedge are all that remain of a previous owner’s rock grotto, which Steve disassembled.
The homeowners designed the pool and the geometric barrier, made from a foam-cast cement breeze wall and iron swing gate.
Designed by Foundation Landscape Design, the concrete pool surround also features built-in seating that wraps around a fire pit.
A concrete bench is an exterior extension of the barbecue area. Tables can be placed in front of this additional seating to help accommodate more people during a meal.
Porter worked with landscape design firm Wagner Hodgson to meld the pool house interior with the exterior.
Designed by American architect and Frank Lloyd Wright protégé John Lautner, the Elrod House was built in 1968 for interior designer Arthur Elrod. The house is set on a craggy ridge in Palm Springs that affords it panoramic views of the San Jacinto Mountains. In fact, the ridge is actually incorporated into the home, with giant boulders kept in their original place and acting as walls and room dividers within the house, bringing nature inside.
Built in 1962, Steel House #4 is one of the seven steel-and-glass prefab homes designed by Wexler and Richard Harrison.
A look at the pool area of Steel House #2. Each major room features floor-to-ceiling glass panels and sliding doors that are all eight feet high.
Tech CEO and billionaire Elon Musk just listed the smallest of his four L.A. homes—and it's larger than life.
The pool was there previously but was "quite disconnected from the house," says Hansford. They were able to reuse it in the new design.
Minarc’s Plus Hus is a tiny energy-efficient prefab marketed towards homeowners seeking to add an accessory dwelling unit to their property. The 320-square-foot structure is prefabricated in downtown Los Angeles, and it can be shipped flatpack to anywhere in the U.S. with prices starting at $37,000.
The new rear, two-story addition adds over 2,000 square feet of living space without sacrificing the backyard. The repetition of the curved elements, such as the tall, cement-rendered columns that band the exterior, are a subtle reference to the scale and proportions of the Victorian style.
Taula House by M Gooden Design | Side Yard
Poolside.
Pool deck and sitting area
The home's orientation is planned around its surroundings. Nestled gently into the hillside, outdoor and indoor spaces spill over providing plenty of space for gathering with friends and family while enjoying the tropical setting.
A grand swimming pool is located just a few steps from the main living spaces of the home. An expansive paved terrace connects the different levels, easing visitors from inside to outside.
The back patio was in a sorry state. The pool was crawling with algae, the concrete pavers were cracked, and most distressing of all, the slender wood posts supporting the roof had been clad in chunky 1980s tile. Jessy and Steve were anxious about what they might find once they were removed. “You never know what’s underneath,” Jessy says. Fortunately, the tiles came off easily and had actually protected the wood from the elements. French windows, added some years ago when the garage was illegally converted into a rental, were also discarded. “They had no business being there,” says Jessy, with a laugh.
Of the exterior cladding, Bryant notes, “Simple brick and cement render were chosen to not compete with the bold and heroic form.”
Any chance they get, the active family takes a dip in the backyard pool, often with a running start from sliding doors in the living room.
An outdoor patio area sits under a covered area looking out onto the private courtyard.
The sweeping roof and courtyard glows underneath the moonlight.
In Palm Springs, Sander Architects created an energy-efficient hybrid prefab home that’s designed to stay naturally cool in the desert heat, which often climbs to triple digits in the summer.
The lounge deck at the rear yard of Sunset Hills Residence features a swimming pool surrounded by lush gardens. Architect Hsu McCullough's design beautifully merges minimalism with an abundance of nature.
Large walls of glass gives the home a light box effect at night.
Carlos Somoza “really brought the project home,” says Brillhart. “With our hope of the architecture being connected to landscape, you need a great landscape architect on-board, and we had that in Carlos.”
The pool was relocated and the couple redid its finishes with the Tuttle Pool Company, installing Pebble Tec, a waterfall feature, and surrounding it with modern, large-format pavers.
The kitchen wing now sits in roughly the same area as the pool used to. Says Brillhart: “The one-story wing is CMU block with exposed wood rafters – a similar system to Russell’s but a little more 21st Century.”
The new structures are designed to be installed in a variety of settings, such as gardens, rooftops, and patios.
Long Island Sound House's pool and hot tub connect gracefully to an ipe terrace. Sellars Lathrop Architects designed the outdoor and indoor spaces with hurricane concerns in mind.
Originally built in the 1900s as the governor’s residence, the Sofitel Luang Prabang is a colonial mansion protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It’s the ultimate blend of Lao tradition and French elegance, and a perfect escape in Southeast Asia.
The house is essentially a rectangle in plan, with a rectangular courtyard at the center. The four wings of the house open out onto the central area.
Night lighting emphasizes the dramatic form of the building.
A path connects the underground garage to the main house. The house’s shape was dictated by the contour of the land.
Mass Studio completed the renovation of a 1960s house in Brentwood, California, that came complete with a classic midcentury kidney pool. During the renovation, the patio and area around the pool was refreshed with a lounge area, fire pit, and plants.
Throughout the day, light animates the limestone walls to various effects. “As the sun rotates around and is more oblique to the texture of the stone, it casts these wonderful shadows on it,” says Raike. “And you just get a real appreciation for the texture of the stone and the richness of the colors in it.”
The plant-filled, covered patio leads to the swimming pool, a nostalgic feature that the Gottschalks were adamant about including in their new home.
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