The pool house is a great hangout spot for the kids. With windows on four sides, it truly feels like you are living in the expansive landscape. All surfaces - house floor, wood deck, flagstone paving, crushed granite walkway, and grass - are level with one another for easy enjoyment by wheelchair. Bench seats provide spots where people can sit and converse at wheelchair height. Photo: Erick Mikiten, AIA

Outdoor Living Space with Pool in Milton

Boyce Design + Build

This active family invited us into their Milton home to help create a poolside paradise that would serve as a multifunctional outdoor living space that could be used for year-round enjoyment. The stunning rectangular swimming pool anchors the center of the backyard and features a raised spa with dual cascading waterfalls and a large tanning ledge perfect for cooling off during those lazy days of summer. The classic style covered cabana sits poolside and houses an impressive, outdoor, stacked stone, wood burning fireplace with mounted tv, a vaulted tongue and groove ceiling and an outdoor living room perfect for hosting family and friends.

Outdoor Oasis. & Pool House

Fiori Interior Design, LLC

Inspiration for a large traditional backyard rectangular natural pool in New York with a pool house and natural stone pavers.

Sleek and Modern Infinity Pool

Tranquility Pools Inc.

Stunning infinity edge swimming pool with pool house, upper and lower patio levels, and immaculate pool landscaping. Spillway shown here into lower basin.

Open Air Pool House and Garden Area

J. Jilich Design & Associates

With a copper roof and detailed woodwork, the new pool house is an outdoor room without walls that keeps the beautifully designed pool area in full view. Pieces of Blue Canton add sophistication to space. Featured in Charleston Style + Design, Winter 2013 Holger Photography

Impeccable Style with Classic Detailing

Harmony Design Group

Inspiration for a large traditional backyard rectangular lap pool in New York with a pool house and natural stone pavers.

Inground Pools

Pioneer Family Pools

This is an example of a large traditional backyard custom-shaped pool in Toronto with natural stone pavers and a pool house.

Water Elements

Elise Landscapes & Nursery, LLC

Photo of a large traditional backyard kidney-shaped natural pool in New York with a pool house and natural stone pavers.

Featured Residential Work

Benedict Homes

Inspiration for a large traditional backyard rectangular natural pool in Atlanta with a pool house and natural stone pavers.

Legacy

A. Perry Homes

Cabana with living space, fireplace, tv, and outdoor kitchen
Design ideas for a large traditional backyard rectangular pool in Chicago with a pool house and natural stone pavers.

Pool house with seating, fireplace and draperies

Stephen W. Hackney Landscape Architecture

This pool was rebuilt from its previous location, in the backyard and away from the house, to the side yard and elevated 8' to bring it in line with the house. A pool house with a fireplace, seating, and draperies was added at one end, while a water feature and spa were added to the side. Lush plantings were incorporated to the entire property, pool area, in coordinating pots and urns. The pool decking is blue stone.

Completely Enclosed Courtyard Pool

Marquise Pools

This is an example of a large traditional courtyard rectangular lap pool in Houston with a pool house and natural stone pavers.

Riverside

Wahoo Pools Group, Inc.

Large beach style backyard rectangular natural pool in Tampa with a pool house and natural stone pavers.

Water Features & Ponds

M. M. Moore Construction Company, Inc.

This infinity edge all-tile pool and spa is surrounded by a cut leuders limestone deck. Dallas and Fort Worth architect Ralph Duesing designed the main house, garage and cabana. M. M. Moore managed the construction of the grounds, hardscape and pool.

Deer Creek Estate

Elite Landscaping Omaha

In the back of this estate just outside of Omaha, Nebraska, Elite Landscaping designed a custom concrete swimming pool with a covered pool house and 360-degree, negative-edge spa. The pool house features an outdoor kitchen and bar area, which rests on posts that adjoin the raised pool wall. The pool house was built as an exact architectural match to the house, from the stucco, to the cedar decking beams, down to the paint color. This covered outdoor entertaining area provides a shady spot in the afternoons, where guests can lounge on four in-pool, swim up bar stools. The rest of the pool remains in full sun. The sunken swim-up bar is adorned with glass tile accents, and the pool wall features natural stone. Oversized, UniLock bluestone pavers comprise the pool deck and patio. The unique negative-edge spa sits above the pool, and was designed so one half of the spa flows into the pool while the other half flows back into the landscaping. The entire poolscape is automated by a Pentair IntelliTouch system that runs off of a smartphone or other device. With the touch of a button, the homeowners can adjust pool and spa temperatures, change water flow speed, program the FX color-changing LED lights, and even test the pool chemistry.

Gallery - Geometric Concrete Pools

Betz Pools Limited

This young family near Toronto, weary of fighting weekend traffic, sold their cottage in Muskoka and created this beautiful backyard playground to adorn their home and gently rolling 10-acre country property. The focal point is an 18’ x 46’ Gunite pool augmented by almost every imaginable feature and convenience.

Pool Huse and Lounge Seating

Rentschler Interiors / LAKESTREETSTUDIO

Pool House including small cozy dining area, sectional, and extensive Wet Bar.
Photo of an expansive country backyard rectangular pool in Boston with a pool house and natural stone pavers.

Contemporary Classic

Mulvey Custom Builders

This is an example of a large mediterranean backyard rectangular natural pool in San Diego with a pool house and natural stone pavers.

Galston

Fluid Design

Blue Poppy Photography
Mid-sized tropical backyard custom-shaped natural pool in Sydney with a pool house and natural stone pavers.

Swimming Pools

Browne and Associates Custom Landscapes

This Swim Spa with retractable Nana Walls was designed in 2005 and constructed in 2006 in Castle Pines Village. The clients wanted a swim spa that could be open to the patio during the Summer, but closed off during the cooler months. Nana Walls surround 2 walls of the pool house. Patio is bluestone flagstone with concrete "tiles". Mexican pebbles grout the concrete tiles. Design: Courtney McRickard - Threesixty Design Denver Construction: Browne and Associates, llc Photography: Michael Peck

Pool Design Ideas with a Pool House and Natural Stone Pavers

Swimming pools are heavenly during hot Australian and New Zealand summers and are the perfect way to cool down, relax, entertain friends and even get fit. A pool can also create visual interest, especially when you consider features like coloured pool tiles, lighting and landscaping. If you are short on space, you might still fit a lap pool, plunge pool or swim spa, all of which could be focal points in your small garden. As you plan your pool design, map out your space and determine what size, shape and style works best for you. Browse the photos on Houzz for design ideas for above ground pools, inground pools, as well as pool landscaping and novelty features like pool slides or water features. Then, save your favourite photos to an ideabook, and get in touch with the experts behind your favourite picks.

What type of pool should I install?

The dimensions of your backyard will determine the type of inground pools you can install. Take into account boundary restrictions and pool fencing compliance. Fibreglass versions are cheaper, and quicker to install; whereas concrete constructions are better suited to tricky sites and give you more freedom in design. If you’re on a tight budget or don’t want to commit to an inground pool, above ground pools are a more affordable alternative. If you only have a small backyard, a plunge pool is a great solution, and can easily run along a boundary wall or down the side of a house. This option is also low maintenance, can be heated for use in winter, and can do double duty as a swim spa. A long, narrow space, on the other hand, could fit a lap pool, whereas a water feature could fill an awkward space. If your backyard features a stunning vista, consider an infinity pool to accentuate the view.

What pool fencing options are available?

While the specifics vary from state to state, fencing is required of most pool designs. However, pool fencing doesn’t have to obscure your pool design. Glass fencing is increasingly popular for this reason exactly, and is available framed, frameless, semi-frameless and even in-ground. A cheaper alternative is aluminium or steel fencing, which, again, are available in a variety of styles: flat top, loop-top, double-top and wire-based.

What pool landscaping features should I consider?

To get the most out of your pool, design an area that offers multiple hangouts. Include a nearby barbecue, dining area, seating for lounging and outdoor shower. Having shaded areas will give you more reason to stay poolside longer, too. Timber decking and stone paving are popular choices for pool surrounds, and are also helpful in creating zones. Just imagine a raised timber platform with a daybed – a luxurious, resort-style addition to any pool design. Leafy trees and rocks will create a more natural-looking oasis, and will help provide more privacy for swimmers. Where you want your landscape to be the main focus, keep pool equipment and furnishings to a minimum.