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A Houston
family by the name of Friedman decided to add an outdoor summer
kitchen and screened-in dining room to the rear of their
Craftsman style, two-story house. At a certain point in time
during the construction of this new room, they decided that it
was time to develop an entirely new master plan that and
Houston landscape concept.
This new design would have a new custom
swimming pool and patio that would connect to the new
addition to an arbor at the other end of the pool—effectively
extending the semi-outdoor space of the outdoor kitchen into the
wide, open space of the pool, patio, and backyard.
Our main objective in this project was to take an otherwise
enormous tract of Houston landscape and turn it into a more
inviting and intimate setting that would appear interesting and
mesmerizing as opposed to vast and overwhelming. In order to do
this, two things were necessary. We had to create some very
unique structures, and we had to construct them in such a way as
to create a very controlled sense of drama.
Pre-construction site
One of the
two most prominent elements on this vast expanse of Houston
landscape was the ornate
custom swimming pool that we constructed for the Friedman’s.
It consisted of a two-level structure, with a fountain on one
end. In the fountain there were three bubblers that shot water
up into the air.
The second part of the pool was lowered, and made accessible by
four steps that were added to either side of the fountain. The
size of these steps encourages a very gradual descent to the
lower portion of the patio. This generates a great sense of
transition, and gives the eye plenty of opportunity to take in
the arbor, parterre garden, and
custom patio design.
The bottom of the fountain was completely covered in blue glass
tile and lighted from within. Although small in comparison to
the rest of the pool, the uniqueness of the fountain’s design
made it one of the most prominent areas of interests, ideal for
pulling chairs around its perimeter.
This fountain adds something of a spa element to the whole
setting because it resides on the same upper plane as the spa.
Its upper end is only 6 inches deep, but its lower end measures
18 inches in depth, which makes it an ideal mini-spa because it
is both lighted and heated. People often recline here much like
they do in the spa, dangling their feet over the edge of the
waterfall that pours into the lower level of the pool.
This
waterfall was one of the most unique features we built for the
Friedman’s. We had a quarry cut a slab of stone in a radius
design and cut runnels in it with a diamond saw. After we
thermal-finished the slab, we covered the front end with a
custom blend of glass tile. The various colors and hues in the
glass are intentionally reflective of the surrounding Houston
landscape. There is also a deliberate copper hue to the design
to further magnify the reflection of pool lights.
This waterfall does so much to establish the sophisticated,
controlled sense of drama that we needed to connote intimacy and
interest on such a large area of Houston landscape. The
variation of tile coloration, especially when catching either
sunlight or pool lights, especially mirrors the elegance of the
adjacent
parterre garden and the many flowers that adorn the side of
the arbor entrance.
The
custom coping and patio surrounding the fountain and the
lower portion of the same are made from the same materials. The
coping of the pool is a lighter colored material known as
Leuders Limestone. It has a rich hue that provides a superb
compliment to both the architecture of the home. The patio
itself is made of Pennsylvania full color sandstone. This patio
was built with concealed water jets so water can rise up
mysteriously from its surface and provide special effects when
illuminated at night.
When we completed this project, we had laid over 2,500 square
feet of paving. Nevertheless, we were ultimately successful in
establishing special area of interest and a feeling of drama
through design. The key to this lay in the many grade changes we
made. By varying things like patio elevation and step width, we
could make even the largest of
hardscapes on the Houston landscape feel intimate and
inviting.
For more the 20 years
Exterior Worlds has specialized in servicing many of Houston's
fine neighborhoods.
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