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

Outdoor Large Pools, Tubs, Showers Hardscapes 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.
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 guesthouse was the first part of the project to be completed, and Mel lived there while the main house was under construction. From his buying the property in 2009 to Sarah completing a roof garden, the entire renovation took roughly 11 years. Around the pool, the lounge chairs are from Restoration Hardware in a Charcoal fabric, and the trailing vine overhead is a California table grape installed by Sarah’s studio. The competition around the Cornilleau 500M Outdoor Crossover ping pong table can be fierce.
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.”
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 facade with custom pool.
The main room’s views of the treetops and Middle Harbour give “the inhabitant a retreat from daily life—a ‘tree house’ of sorts,” says Litera.
The Arguedas family especially loves hanging out on the lanai. “We wanted to keep the indoor/outdoor connection, while recognizing the realities of Florida’s climate,” says Roberto. “The 45-foot span of sliding doors provides a lot of flexibility in that respect, and ensures that even when the heat makes us keep them closed, you never feel disconnected from the main room when enjoying the pool or sitting under the roof extension.” The pool’s surrounds were upgraded, too. Previously, guests would be staring at a “mishmash of aberrant elements; there’s just landscape out there now,” adds Epstein.
The stone-edged fire pit is a family favorite. "We do s'mores around the fire every time we go, walk the golf course at night, and love watching the sunsets against the pink mountains," she says.
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.
Up close the clean lines of the steel are apparent.
The backyard is the family's gathering space, with each room opening up to the courtyard.
One of the biggest challenges was working around the existing trees. "The site slopes downward, so we tried to mediate around that and curve the building so it feels as if it's hugging the trees," Megan Lin says. "It's an integral element of the design."
Porter worked with landscape design firm Wagner Hodgson to meld the pool house interior with the exterior.
The pool house was designed and built to mimic the main house, so they feel like "a family of structures," says Porter.
Built in 1962, Steel House #4 is one of the seven steel-and-glass prefab homes designed by Wexler and Richard Harrison.
Surrounding by palm trees, the backyard features a pool and spa plus multiple spaces for outdoor entertaining. There are also spectacular mountain views.
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.
Poolside.
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.
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.
The smaller concrete pavilion in the rear of the site opens up to a pool on the far west side. "The garden surrounds the house on all sides and will over time encompass the pool area as the vines spread across the rough timber boundary walls," add the architects.
The sweeping roof and courtyard glows underneath the moonlight.
The living area and the dining area both open up to outdoor balconies.
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.”
A view of the new kitchen wing. “We weren’t trying to mimic Russell’s architecture, but we were trying to be sympathetic to the structure and the materiality in our additions and renovations,” says Brillhart.
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.”
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.
A view of the outdoor swimming pool with a separate spa.
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.
The backyard has beautiful landscaping, fruit trees, and a spectacular heated pool.
The other pool, surrounded by the meticulously manicured landscape. Immersed in breathtaking ocean and canyon vistas, this serene spot feels worlds away from the city.
An aerial view of the perfectly framed pool.
Neutra framed the outdoor area with a long pool house that closes off the space and provides some privacy. The pool house has changing rooms, a bathroom, and storage space for outdoor equipment. The swimming pool is set in a natural flagstone terrace.
A screened-in porch can be easily accessed from the family room, kitchen, and living room.
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