Mt. Diablo is sacred to many California Native Americans. But for these homeowners, it was important in a different way. The mountain view, enhanced by a rustic windmill on their half-acre property, would be key to their new spascape. After rebuilding their ranch house, the family of four wanted a hot tub and deck, landscaping and fencing.
“The clients — a software salesman, his wife and two young daughters — wanted to utilize that view, to capture its whole essence,” designer/contractor Christopher Stewart says of the Walnut Creek, Calif., project. He worked in partnership with Paradise Valley Spas, a seven-store operation in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Bev Jacquemet, customer service manager at Paradise Valley Spas, counseled the new spa owners on everything from creating the desired ambience to placement of the vessel.
The star of this spascape was a Jacuzzi J-385, measuring 94-by-94-by-38 inches, holding 550 gallons and seating up to seven. The 43-jet hot tub sports LED ProLites, two waterfalls and a stereo system.
Construction of the project went smoothly, Stewart says, though substantial digging was needed to get the spa pad low enough so it would look as if it were incorporated into the land and view. The resulting 420-square-foot deck, constructed of exotic Brazilian hardwood, was well worth the effort.
“It’s a woodsy area ... and this fits in with the setting,” Stewart says. “The windmill nearby was built in the late 1930s or ’40s, and was originally on the property in that spot. The homeowners made a sturdier base for it; it’s for decoration now, not functional.”
Clearly, this family is fond of water, as evidenced by the spa in the front yard and an inground pool in the backyard. But there’s really no question which is their favorite.
As Stewart puts it, “They wanted the spa and deck to be the jewel in the crown.”