Estates West Magazine Archives

If a kitchen is the heart of a home, today’s pools might be the soul. Top pool designers say that pools are more than just a place to splash with the kids. Great pools serve as meditation room and entertainment focal point — an idealized reflection of nature that combines sight, sound, light and movement into a Zen-like space that can help a homeowner when he wants to either focus inward or reflect outward to see his place in the world.

Over-the-top island retreats with sauna caves, 20-foot waterfalls and televisions in the swim up bars have given way to vanishing edges and zero-entry pools that blur the line between the pool, the horizon and the architecture of the house. The pool design is often integral to the design of the home with architects, landscape architects and pool designers working together to create seamless integrated design that enhances the overall shape of the property.

According to Ed Kahn, editor of Pool and Spa Living and Luxury Pools, water features are more important than ever. “Most people used to think in terms of fountains,” he says, “but I see an increasing use of jets, sheet falls and waterfalls and various takes on moving water.” Another trend Kahn sees is a more subtle use of play equipment. Instead of a diving board or slide, modern design uses shoots and diving rocks that integrate into the design while still creating a safer playing area for the kids.

The best designers, he says, can do it all. Many use CAD design tools to show what your back yard will look like with various designs and configurations, integrating outdoor kitchen and play areas, the reflection pool, the integrated wiring package and the lights that show everything off to advantage. That means that it is more important than ever, he says, to get a great pool designer who knows how to pull it all together.

Skip Phillips owner of the internationally award-winning Questar Pools and Spas from Escondido California, agrees. Sixty percent of his business, he says, is tearing out poorly designed and constructed pools, many that are less than five years old.

It is the package, not just the design that is important, he says. Make sure that your pool builder has the background and education in construction and engineering that can assure that your beautiful design isn’t ravaged by the design element you most love. An overflow design that can’t hold water will quickly lose its aesthetic appeal.

Clients are better-educated and more well-traveled than ever, and that is influencing design. “The U.S. isn’t driving pool design; we are well behind the curve,” he says. “The Indonesians and Europeans have been designing water vessels for at least 3000 years.” Phillips designs pools that owners will love whether or not they ever get wet. “The utilitarian goals of a pool are really second or even third down the line. With good design, the space itself should be so wonderful with audible and reflective qualities that if you never get in you still won’t regret putting in a pool.”

He advises clients to look for an “intellectual package” that coordinates with the home’s architecture on color continuity, balance, scale and structure. A good pool designer can switch gears, he advises. Most architects have a theme, but a pool designer has to be able to go from working with an antebellum mansion to a French château.

Many pool designers emphasize the importance of finding a contractor who is an expert in your soil and climate conditions. Joe Vassallo with Las Vegas-based Paragon Pools is an expert in his region as well as in all the bells and whistles that glitzy Las Vegans demand. Situated in one of the fastest growing housing markets in the country, in his 14 pool-building years he has watched the pool design scene transform.

He loves playing with new technologies that allow him to offer greater safety and convenience or more sophisticated design. New lighting effects, for instance, let a homeowner change the color of the pool at whim; “wet flame” water features can add a dramatic third element to pool design.

Vassallo often installs Fiberstars Jazz Light ™ that uses the same lamp technology found in many luxury cars today. Brighter, whiter light enhances colors creating a brilliant glow throughout the pool. It is also the most energy efficient pool light available with bulbs that offer a 10,000-hour life, adding beauty while saving money.

Safety is always designed into every pool he designs, says Vassallo, who joined with the City of Las Vegas and the Red Cross to sponsor an annual Pool Safety Fair. He would love to see all pools take advantage of the new laser technology that is invisible to the eye, sets off an alarm whenever it is crossed. “It works for burglars as well as little kids,” he laughs.

The alarm system can be retrofitted to an existing pool as well as easily be incorporated into the new integrated wiring packages that many new homeowners are installing both indoors and out. The Jandy AquaLink Control system lets homeowners heat up the spa, turn on water features, control the backyard lighting, see if the cleaner is running and check on their pool equipment from inside the home or from a cell phone or remote computer.

Vassallo has become a leader in salt-water pools, as well, and loves how gentle these pools are on the skin – as well as on the finish materials of the pool. Clients absolutely love the effect when combined with an ultraviolet ozone generator and top-of-the-line filtration system. “It just feels wonderful!” he says.

With all of this technology, advises Vassallo, follow-up service is mandatory and should be performed by the company, not the product manufacturer. “You want equipment and service where if something goes wrong, a technician shows up and you aren’t stuck with a call center who walks you through diagnostics over the phone.”

Scottsdale-based Mike Ferraro of Phoenecian Pools also emphasizes the importance of selecting a pool company that will be with you long term. Like other leading pool designers across the West, his clients want clean, architectural lines that expand their outdoor space.

A specialist in hill design, one of his favorite pools cantilevers over the edge of a cliff in a vanishing edge design that disappears into the horizon. The last 12-feet of the pool are actually suspended in air, he says.

He recommends looking for someone who is familiar with your area so that they can design to your lot and location. “We design, build and maintain our pools and I think doing all three means we understand the workings of a particular system like no one else.”

His clients are requesting pools that incorporate either natural materials like quartzite, travertine and flagstone or glass tiles that reflect the desert light. Zero-edge pools, classic, clean linear design that has a timeless feel is also hot, he says.

Water features are as varied and inventive as possible. Ferraro is using a lot of copper and bronze sculptures with water running from pouring vessels or from hand-carved scuppers that come directly out of the pool wall.

He also likes to integrate big granite boulders that blend in with the surrounding landscape. Stacked stone walls that mimic Anasazi structures can stay dry or become “wet walls” that allow water to subtly trickle through the cracks to imitate a natural stone seep.

“People love old-world looking pools,” he says, “but with a modern twist.”

by Lynn Goya

12-31-2003

There is something about tile that is timeless and personal in a way that no other home finish can match. It can fit the interior of a remodeled house built in the last century or a post-modern loft that looks as if it were plucked from the future. If tile is anything – and it is anything today – it is the most personal of all finishes available to today’s luxury homeowner.

Deedee Gundberg, senior designer for tile and stone for Ann Sacks, says tile can achieve almost any design you can imagine. “You can go modern, traditional, transitional — anything is possible.” Founder Ann Sacks retired in 2003, after building a company that features quality hand made tiles from a variety of exclusive artists. They currently have between 40 – 50 artists who design exclusively for Ann Sacks and whose work is featured throughout their 17 showrooms around the country.

There are more options in types of materials available than ever before. “It is fun for designers to come up with new and creative ways to use these materials,” she says. She sees designers mixing colors and shapes together, combining striking decorative metal or glass accent tiles with stone or ceramic tiles to create a very personal style for their clients. “Different mediums look beautiful together,” she says.

But tile isn’t just for the kitchen, bath and floor anymore, says Gundberg. Tile is more and more seen throughout the house. Rich leather tiles can warm up a study or add elegance to an elevator. Stainless steel tiles add drama to a modern kitchen.

Glass tiles have gone from an exciting trend to a design staple over the past five years. The iridescent Loom, manufactured from an antique mold by the acclaimed Bisazza factory of Italy, uses hand weaving to create a texture that appears to soften and warm the glass. The Erin Adam collection is another popular glass tile that has been featured in everything from kitchen backsplashes to framing a fireplace.

Antique stone tiles may be the ultimate luxury. Culled from ancient streets, public buildings and houses in France and Spain, the terra cotta tiles can be anywhere from 200 to 1000 years old. The Biblical tiles, thick limestone slabs from Israel, can be up to 2000 years old. The tiles are reclaimed, cleaned and labeled to show where and when they were originally laid. “It is very beautiful,” says Gundberg. “They have developed a patina over time so they have a really beautiful surface.“

Jennifer Capasso, head of sales for Walker Zanger, agrees homeowners are progressively more sophisticated consumers. Many visit the showroom time after time to make sure that they find exactly what they want. “They go to our showroom and to all of our competitors before they make their decision,” says Capasso.

“Our clients go for a look without being concerned with the cost,” says Capasso. “They might use a neutral limestone or slate and then add a little kick of glass as an accent piece or to carve out a space,” says Capasso. They feel pretty safe [without a designer] because they have gone to the websites, the magazines, the showrooms.

For more than 50 years Walker Zanger has specialized in Old World stone culled from quarries around the world and tile lines produced by domestic and international artisans that combine traditional tile-making techniques with modern sensibilities.

Homeowners are buying ceramic tiles with smaller and more interesting shapes,” she says. People can’t seem to get enough of the “subway tile,” a clean brick-shaped tile that is stunning in white and is often used in backsplashes or tiled walls.

Capasso loves the floors that combine different shapes or sized of tiles to create a random pattern. To be effective, she warns, that kind of treatment is best when it is used in a large space.

“Patine is the hottest metal tile we have right now and we can’t keep it in stock,” she says. This embossed copper tile is usually used as an accent in the kitchen. Glass is also very hot right now, adds Capasso who loves when clients install glass tiles along the water line in pools.

But at the end of the day, we are selling stone,” she admits. The last two years has seen their stone lines expand from one to five lines. Wine connoisseurs love to create a wine cellar encased in natural stone. The natural insulating abilities keep the temperature and humidity constant, but it is the beauty of the room that is the real draw. “Stone is authentic; it has been around for thousands of years,” says Capasso. “It makes your house look like it has been there since the 12^th century.”

Leigh O’Dell, marketing director for Pratt & Larson Ceramics, loves the versatility of ceramic tiles. The twenty-five year old company started out with two people in a basement and has grown to encompass 100 employees, 120 showrooms and a reputation that is second to none. Aside from the designs generated by the owner and the designers, any employee can produce a design and if adopted will get a royalty every time it is purchased. “We release new tiles every other month,” says O’Dell. The Portland showroom is as much a market research center as a showroom. “We always try to keep our ear to the ground and respond to what our dealers tell us customers are saying.”

Their classic line still sells like hotcakes and includes traditional images of fruits, vegetables, animals and flowers. The last two years, however, has seen the company add an historical line of egg and dart tiles and glass tiles designed by tile makers from Seattle and California.

Their more recent lines, however, are also very popular and include timeless designs like harlequin tiles and 2-inch hexagon and 2-inch diamond tiles primarily used in bathroom flooring, counters and surrounds. “We have seen a move back to the retro bathrooms,” says O’Dell.

“Almost every order is custom made,” says O’Dell. Pratt & Larson has 1000 different tiles with a library of 300 standard color options, “but if you can’t find the right pink,” says O’Dell, “we will match it for you. We can truly customize the order. There are very few dos and don’ts in our line.”

Any style can be ordered in any of their four distinctive glaze lines: R-gloss, Parchment matte, Watercolor and Craftsman, as well as several specialty glazes. “We can make a black bear, a brown bear or a polar bear with a red eye,” says O’Dell, who has been with the company for 12 years. For the Oregon museum of Science and Industry they created bas relief tiles that included a cog and wheel, insects and a human skull. “You don’t often get projects like that,” she laughs.

by Lynn Goya

Published in Estates West

12-31-2003

New Pools Make a Big Backyard Splash

Tag: Estates West Magazine

New Pools Make a Big Backyard Splash

There’s Something about Tile