| Six years ago, Exterior Worlds was contacted by a | | | | collect naturally like it does at the base of a cliff. A |
| couple by the names of Rick and Susan Ashcroft. | | | | series of interlocking pavers was laid around the |
| They asked if we could do something about the | | | | perimeter to create a flat surface that extended |
| lagoon-style swimming pool that had been built behind | | | | from the back of the home to the retaining wall. This |
| their house in the late1940s. This style had been very | | | | is a standard aesthetic used in most natural swimming |
| popular at that time, and it is still a favored by some | | | | pools, but it also served a special, practical purpose in |
| of the world's more lavish resorts. However, ever | | | | this instance. Since this area was subject to heavy |
| since the day they had purchased their home, the | | | | land erosion from runoff rainwater, pavers provided a |
| Ashcroft's had always been agitated by the | | | | very efficient way of reconstructing key elements of |
| ostentatiousness of the whole thing, and had finally | | | | the structure every 5-10 years. |
| decided to have it redesigned as a natural swimming | | | | The natural swimming pool now appeared as an |
| pool. They wanted their back yard to retain the | | | | inviting portal into a remote hill country getaway, just |
| feeling of a tropical locale, but lose the touristic | | | | a stone's throw away from the back of the house. |
| element in favor of that of a cozier, more private | | | | We made it easier to reach by building two series of |
| corner of paradise. | | | | stone steps that led down to either side of the |
| We agreed with their sentiments wholeheartedly. | | | | water's edge. We were careful to avoid making them |
| Just a cursory glance at the property confirmed that | | | | look too much like stairs. Instead, we designed them |
| a natural swimming pool design was a much better fit | | | | to closely mimic the layers of rock that often jut |
| for the grade of the landscape and the surrounding | | | | from the sides of mountains and dormant volcanoes |
| opportunities for vegetation and lighting. The | | | | on islands all over the Pacific. To further develop this |
| Ashcroft residence was located on the side of a hill | | | | theme, we placed a large flat stone to serve as a |
| that sloped down toward a ravine, and the house | | | | diving area, and we created a waterfall on either side |
| itself house was built 40 feet back from the road. | | | | of it by laying down stones in a manner that created |
| The steep grade of the land posed construction | | | | varying speeds of water. |
| challenges to any type of water feature, but there | | | | Our construction methods here were very unique in |
| was a way to build a natural swimming pool here that | | | | comparison to those of our competitors. We took |
| would achieve the aesthetic the Ashcroft's were | | | | almost a month to consciously and deliberately lay |
| seeking and create a lasting element that required | | | | each stone by hand. While this may seem |
| only limited and very intermittent periods of | | | | painstakingly detailed to some, the rewards were |
| maintenance. | | | | astonishing, because our natural swimming pool |
| We began by stripping the pool down to its shell and | | | | mimicked Nature in such a way that it lacked almost |
| building a retaining wall that offset the grade of the | | | | all evidence of human engineering, and looked virtually |
| land. We shaped the surrounding earth around it into | | | | identical to something you would stumble upon in the |
| a much deeper basin that would allow water to | | | | jungle of a tropical paradise. |