ALL SHAPES & SIZES
There’s a new image for water in the home landscape. Today’s pools and spas are far different than their predecessors. They fulfill dual goals: serving specific fitness functions is equally as important as their distinctive designs.
Total package: a multipurpose pool design Not only did Carol and Paul Frimmer want a pool in which they could do some serious swimming but they also preferred a pool, shown at right and above, that would suit the geometric design of their house. This pool even turns corners, creating intimate pocket pools within itself. And, of course, there’s a spa. Architect Marshall Lewis AIA, who designed the Frimmers’ contemporary house, worked with the Frimmers on the pool’s design. Brick trims the perimeters; bright, navy-blue tile trims the waterline and the wall at the point where the spa spills over into the pool. The contractor was New View Developments, Hidden Hills. Designed by Carol Frimmer, the adjustable canvas overhang provides a shady retreat. The Moroccan buffet was provided by the Marrakesh, Studio City and Newport Beach. All of the tableware, the towels and other accessories are from Bullock’s; the plants are from Sperling Nursery, Calabasas.
An illusion of flowing water The spa, a product of the ‘70s and ‘80s, was not an integral part of pool design until recently. Landscape designer Dennis Stevens was asked to add a spa, left, and to remodel an outdated pool at the site of the 1984 Pasadena Showcase House of Design. Stevens says the 20x60-foot pool had been remodeled before, about 30 years ago. Now, in its third incarnation, the pool sports a fountain that mirrors the glass block of the newly added spa. Underwater surfaces are lined with white tiles that “throw daylight behind the glass block,” Stevens says. “And at night, when the spa is lit, it bubbles and shimmers like a champagne glass.” Between the spa and the pool, located in a water-filled space about eight feet from pool, is an attractive “floating” step that creates the illusion that water is flowing from the spa,
beneath the deck and into the pool.
An landscape designer’s imaginative solution to to a need for a totaL outdoor-living environment, a garage addition and the saving of gracious oaks.
Nearly every backyard has its limitations when the addition of a swimming pool is considered. In the case shown here, homeowners Frank and Mary Haltom of San Marino not only wanted a pool, but they also needed a new garage, since the original attached garage had been integrated into a family room when the house was remodeled. The Haltoms called upon landscape architect Mark Berry ASLA of the Pasadena and San Juan Capistrano firm of Berry & Dunbar to help them do the job properly. “I approach pool design from the perspective of suiting both the site and the style of the house,” Berry says. “And the traditional, rather-English-and-French flavor of the Haltoms’ house dictated the pool’s style and the materials that were used, such as the Santa Maria sandstone decking that links the pool with the terrace and patio areas.” Ever mindful of preserving all the old oak trees on the site, Berry created a rectangular pool, plastered gray for reflective quality and heat retention; stepped upward from the pool, he placed the spa. “In this case, the slope of the backyard provided an obvious solution to the problem of where the new detached garage would be placed--in a spot that would not detract from the spacious, oak-filled landscape,” Berry says. Now, the Haltoms’ driveway winds down the slope to a three-car garage, the roof of which is shown above and at left; it has been turned into a stepped-up, walled-in patio that has been integrated into the overall design scheme. This unusual rooftop patio provides a practical place for entertaining and for looking out onto the pool to the right and onto the tennis court below. R. B. Perry and Associates, Pasadena, was general contractor; landscape designer Walter Rutiman of San Marino specified all flowers and plants for the yard. Laura Bayne andWalter Hubert of Silver Birches, Pasadena,created this festive pool-side setting,repast and seasonal flower arrangement. The outdoor furniture by Triconfort is from Berk’s,Santa Monica; tableware is from Bullock’s; accessories are from Jacquerie, Pasadena. Doctor’s prescription: a long, solar lap pool
Garrett Saikley MD, seen at top right in his spa with a friend, loves to swim. When he bought his 1930s, Spanish-style Pasadena home, it did not have a pool. So, he called in Jerry Cummings & Associates to design the 11-foot-wide, 60-foot-long, 4 1/2-foot-deep, solar-heated lap pool, also shown below. Because two retaining walls existed, the obvious solution was to install the pool at that spot. The rose garden that had been located there was moved to a side yard. To keep the mood of the lower wall’s arch, Cummings added a center of interest to the upper wall by designing a Colonial Spanish-style arch with a recirculating lavabo-fountain, sheathing the arch and waterline of the pool and spa with blue and white tiles. Plants are from Burkard Nursery, Pasadena; striped tent is from Canvas Specialty, Los Angeles; tableware and accessories, shown below, from Bullock’s.
For a comic, a quiet millpond mood
A hectic schedule always accompanies comedian-impersonator Rich Little, making time at home of considerable importance to him and family. Shown at right in their spa, perched high above the beach in Malibu, are Rich, his wife, Jeanne, and their 7-year-old daughter, Bria. Landscape architect Randon Garver of Creative Land Design, West L.A., the brains behind these grounds, located the pool (also pictured on the cover) on the down slope of the hill, freeing land for lawn and garden areas. Bouquet Canyon stone blankets the decks and walls of the pool and spa. “Because of the European country flavor of the house, I designed a pool reminiscent of a quiet millpond, where water from the spa cascades into the pool in the manner of water flowing over a dam,” Garver says. Furniture and accessories are from the May Co.; all plants are from Sperling Nursery, Calabasas.
A lush environment for a soaker’s spa
Now regarded as a California classic, the popular redwood hot tub finds itself in a variety of outdoor settings. The area around the redwood tub shown below--an oval spa 5 feet wide and 6 feet, 9 inches long--was redesigned by landscape designer Cyrille Schiff of B. C. Designs, Brentwood. It now has the subtle, quiet ambiance of an Oriental garden, complete with a variety of interesting plants. The wall to the rear of the spa, which has a redwood deck surrounding the back half of the oval, has been covered with split lodgepoles, and the trellis above is made of split bamboo, artistically hand tied by Gabriel Aguilera Jr.. Hanging on the lodgepole wall is a collection of staghorn ferns. Other tropical plants in the surrounding area are bromeliads, Ophiopogon jaburan, azaleas, mondo grass, Liriope gigantea, Liriope muscari and bamboo. Towels, accessories are from the May Co.
A versatile, prefabricated spa-pool There are pools and spas to suit almost any taste and aquatic function. The small pool shown here, however, is one that serves several purposes. It is a corner spa, but it has powerful jets that allow a serious swimmer to exercise by swimming in place against the resistance of the water pressure. The spa can be a cozy soak for two, or the water in the pool--which in this case also has ledges for sitting around the perimeter--can be heated to allow the entire pool to serve as a spa for a larger group. An unusual technical aspect of this spa-pool is that it was almost totally prefabricated (including the tile surfaces) in the factory. It was designed by Nick Kirov of Sunrise Industries of Carson, who builds to customer specifications, transports the finished product to the site and installs it, plumbing and all. Decking and any final trimming, such as the bricking and above-water tiling shown here, is done last. Furniture is from Plummer’s; plants are from Sperling Nursery, Calabasas.
