f handled correctly, elevation changes present an easy way to add another dimension to an aquascape — or, in the case of Jeff Norton, another room.
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Designer Jeff Norton turned the second and third levels of this yard into a backyard room, with a fence surrounding the aquascape and deck while the upper terrace holds large plants that serve as a focal point. Norton softened the already inconspicuous fence with plantings on either side.
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Norton, owner of Sunset Pools & Landscaping in St. George, Utah, set the pool on the middle of three terraces and surrounded it with iron fencing to keep the homeowners’ small children from entering on their own. This design left plenty of lawn for the kids to play.
Isolating the pool seemed a necessity, but Norton wanted the room to blend with the entire backyard. To accomplish this, he specified an earth-tone coating for the fence, as well as low, unobtrusive plantings on either side of it.
With this design, the first level provides a home-level recreation area, while the second functions as a dedicated swimming haven.
Norton made equally good use of the smallish third terrace, setting it aside as a planter for larger specimens that would provide a focal point for the yard. Brick accents on the deck help tie the aquascape in with the brickwork on the home and existing elevation walls.
The result is a multilevel, multifunctional backyard with a singular design thread.
What was your thinking behind the design concept?
I tried to determine what would be the best location for the pool and still allow plenty of room for the younger kids to play and have a lawn area.
With the elevation changes, I chose to put the pool at the lawn grade, on the second level. This saves a good part of the lawn for playing and for the swing sets. It also isolates the pool a little bit for safety and uses the good shade that already exists under the trees. It’s going to be kind of messy for cleaning because of the leaves, but you were going to have that struggle no matter where you put the pool in the yard.
Then you could landscape that whole area back there on the third level and use the retaining wall as a seat wall. I would put brick coping on top of the wall, stucco the face of it and put watertight sealant on it so the third level could be landscaped.
Why did you decide to just landscape that third level?
First of all, because it’s already a higher area, it’s already retained. And we get the added dimension of a raised planter back there, which would look especially good with night lighting.
So you have a focal point in the back.
Exactly. If you were standing on the pool grade, you’d be looking over your pool, up to that bench wall and then seeing a raised planter back in there, retained by the bench wall.
Did you have any kinds of plants in mind for that area?
Broad-leafed flowering plant material like Indian hawthorne or mock orange because you get the beauty of the flowers. You can just do so much more with broad-leafed evergreen plant material than you can with any kind of a juniper-type plant. Then I’d use ground cover — things like ice plant or ivy that are really going to fill in the bed so it’s a solid mass of greenery.
They already had an existing portable spa on that property. What made you decide to build a new spa?
First of all, in the interview they said they weren’t sure they wanted to keep that portable spa. And it uses up too much space on their first-level deck. Then building the spa into the pool adds a lot of things: You get a spa, you get a waterfall coming out of the spa, and you get some dimension added to the whole job.
Is the spa raised?
The spa is elevated about 18 inches higher than the pool. There is a continuous spillway from the spa to the pool, which would give you a waterfall effect. The only time that waterfall stops is if you are using the spa. The Compool system allows you to continuously run the spillway. Then we have a bypass line in it. So we have the ability to have that spillway fall all the time.
I do a bypass line on my spa to allow water to go into the spa and spill over when it’s on pool circulation. We’re still getting circulation through the pool, but we’re putting a little bit of water back into the spa, thus chemically treating the spa.
You don’t have to put it on a spa fill mode, which then puts all your return systems back into the spa. It’s an added feature, but not really for any extra money.
How did you come up with your design concept on this particular project?
I felt like this design gives them a very freeform look, which matches their backyard. It would not look very good to go back in there and put a rectangular pool. I think this layout is much more appropriate for the appearance of their existing backyard.
I chose to use brick coping because they already have a lot of brick in their home. Then I chose to put some brick webbing, if you will, through the deck in about five locations to also accent the deck and pick up that brick look. So it kind of blends with the entire home.
Then in the interview they talked about wanting a fairly shallow end, so I included the Shamu shelf, or sun shelf.
You included a Shamu shelf?
Yeah, the shelf creates a very shallow place that little ones can play on, but also a place where adults can put a chaise lounge in the water.
The Shamu shelf is actually the first step of the pool, so it’s typically about 6 inches deep.
I understand the clients said they were interested in a beach entry. What made you go with a Shamu shelf instead?
We didn’t have enough length to put in a beach entry. They wanted a pool depth of about 5 feet. To do a beach entry and have any kind of depth on the pool, we’d probably have had to go at least another 10 to 15 feet longer. So I think a beach entry would have been a wrong choice.
What kind of ambiance were you trying to create? For instance, you mentioned that you didn’t think a rectangular pool would work, that you thought a freeform was better.
Their walls and steps have a lot of radiuses, a lot of serpentine movement, and no really straight lines other than the property line, which is kind of hidden with the foliage anyway. I wanted to create more of a freeform look, so that bench wall in the back is a freeform. The freeform pool fits in and looks much more natural and obviously will look a lot more lush once all the landscaping is done.
The fence I’ve put around it doesn’t just go in a straight line. It’s laid in radiuses to really mirror the deck. And you have plant material inside and outside the pool area.
But yet we want to keep the fence low-key. We don’t want to try to make it a visual aspect of the job. We do that with very plain fencing. And we also do that with the right color of fence. So we try to get it to blend instead of stand out.
It would be a very plain fence that would meet code. It wouldn’t have any ornate ornamental designs in it. If you have a big, ornate design on this fence, that’s the first thing your eye’s going to focus on when you’re sitting down on the lower patio area and looking at the pool.
What color fence would you use here?
It would be an earth tone, probably a darker beige, to blend with the surroundings. A lot of times when we work with fencing, we’ll take a sample, set it in and see what color is best. We don’t want to have it stand out. So you don’t want it to be black or white; you don’t want it to be a walnut color, blue or green. Most of the time, you can achieve that by going to a beige or light brown color.
Is there anything else about the property that affected your design somehow?
I just know that there’s a lot of foliage on the back property lines and some existing trees that we’re going to be able to save. If we had moved the pool from the back corner to the lawn area, we would’ve had to take out a great big tree. You never want to take out plant material unless you absolutely have to. I chose to put it in the corner for that reason as well.
The other issue is the color of the concrete that would go around the deck. Again, that’s something I would say to do in an earth tone, something like a desert tan, something light and reflective. That way, you can walk around on it barefooted and not be uncomfortable. I’ve bid a salt-finish texture on it because it’s nonslip and also holds up very well in the elements.
What kind of interior finish would you include in this?
The interior finish is a standard white plaster because that’s the least expensive. If they found that they could afford more, then I gave some other options as well, such as Pebbletec or a Colorquartz.
We talked about the landscaping up on the upper level. I notice the picture shows some landscaping around the deck as well. Would you be using the same type of plants as up on that top level?
No, the plants on the upper level would probably grow bigger and fill in wider. Plants on the deck area would stay lower. We want to maintain the openness there so if the children were up there playing in the pool, the adults could be down on the lower patio and still be able to observe what’s going on. We would choose plant material like lantana or different kinds of ground cover that will stay low to the ground and spread and fill in, maybe Moon Bay nandinas.
On your wish list, you mention that you’d like to add Spectrum Amerlite [SAm], the colored rotating lights. Why did you think colored lighting would be a good choice for this project?
I think with all the foliage that’s going on up there, if you can create some lighting that’s going to accent the foliage and create shadow, it’s just going to create some interest.
Would you do anything different with the deck if you had more money?
There are a lot of interesting things you could do with the deck. You could use natural stone or stamped concrete, but there’s so much existing brick on the home and patio that I think to introduce another element would probably be a mistake. Some people want to use all kinds of materials and they destroy the job because they make it too gaudy-looking and cluttered. You want to do simple things that are going to accent. I think complementing the existing brick with the salt-finish is the right choice.
What was the biggest design challenge on this job?
I had some elevation issues that I had to deal with — making sure that the pool’s set in a place where we could leave some of the topography alone while trying to leave trees alone.
