Outdoor
June 30, 2016
35+ Perfect Pools To Dive Into
On a hot summer day, nothing is quite as refreshing as a pool. Besides being a nice place to cool off, they add visual interest to your yard and can even become the defining feature of your outdoor oasis. Click through to get inspired — and maybe a little jealous — of these stunning pool designs.
This space is all about comfort and ease — and having fun. The pool house features sliding barn-style doors that open to a bedroom, bathroom and sauna, perfect for family and friends who visit in the summer.
Make the most of water vistas with an infinity edge pool. Glass safety fences don’t hamper the view.
A small reflecting pool looks natural in this English garden-inspired backyard. Because the pool is so small it doubles as a hot tub!
The original idea to add a pool in this small backyard was met with disbelief, but it’s since become one of the family’s favorite parts. The fiberglass pool has a hot tub at one end, making it ideal for hot summer days and cool nights.
This dreamy city garden shows that even the smallest plot can make a big splash. The compact, geometric shape of the pool makes it ideal for the tight outdoor space. Its deep, lagoon-like color adds visual drama.
A hot tub with an infinity edge built into the pool and a multi-tiered concrete patio makes a unique and modern statement.
The addition of waterfalls adds intrigue to this simple backyard pool.
With the lawn running almost to the water’s edge, this pool has the look of a naturally occurring pond.
The clean lines of this simple Montecito, California swimming pool let the magnificent views take center stage. Chic white patio furniture and a minimalist design invite relaxed West Coast living.
Old world English charm meets modern design in this beautiful backyard. A long lap pool, sleek and contemporary, contrasts a weathered cobblestone path.
Nature is literally at Vancouver artist Bobbie Burgers’ doorstep. A wide pond runs around the east side of her house, bringing Zen to the entire space. The tranquil water feature is the ideal spot for her kids to play on a hot summer day.
A sheer-descent waterfall in the pool is a fun element for swimmers, and also adds ambiance and a soothing focal point when dining on the patio to the right of the pool. A wrought-iron fence sections off a special garden for the kids with a playhouse, butterfly bushes, and edible berry trees.
Palm Beach’s year-round warm weather allows for gorgeous pools, like this simple green-blue one.
Nestled in the middle of a wild country garden, this small cottage pool glistens like a gemstone. A garden gate covered in clematis and surrounded by lush hydrangeas adds charm, while sleek loungers keep the look modern. The owners were inspired by Monet’s gardens in Giverny, France.
A beautiful greenhouse at one end of the pool draws the eye to the foot of the backyard, creating a symmetrical vista. A garden shed can fulfill the same purpose, while storing supplies. An allée of crabapple trees on the right frames a dramatic approach to the structure.
At designer Sloan Mauran’s bungalow in Florida, the loggia is a true indoor-outdoor space with an open-air living and dining room — perfect for entertaining.
“The homeowners of this gorgeous plot wanted intimate spaces that were comfortable enough for the family, but stylish and elegant enough for entertaining,” says Maureen Sedran of Mark Hartley Landscape Architects. To that end, the team designed and installed a 12-by-35-foot saltwater pool, as well as a multilevel yard that gradually descends in stages from the house. The pool’s deep, shimmering blue gives the whole yard a tropical feel.
Furniture groupings create separate rooms in this Vancouver backyard. When night falls, guests instinctively congregate in the area around the firepit, which acts as an outdoor living room all summer. Lights in the pool, cabana and firepit area cast an ethereal glow.
A covered wooden walkway surrounds the interior courtyard of this Dominican Republic getaway, linking all the rooms that open onto it. Lush greenery and stately Royal palms frame the slate-lined reflecting pool and fountain.
At Monica and Michael Belcourt’s sleek, modern getaway home in the Dominican Republic’s luxe Casa de Campo resort, all the principal rooms along the front of the house open onto the pool area, which offers spectacular views of the Caribbean across a sprawling lawn.
These homeowners wanted to turn their overrun English garden into an effortless escape, so they actually swapped their lawn for a flagstone patio. Meredyth Hilton of Artistic Gardens raised the hot tub so its edging could provide extra seating. Its warm water flows into the pool — an economical way to heat it — in a waterfall effect.
This gorgeous escape in Magog, Quebec, is home to a family of six. Homeowner and interior designer Alyson Wood wanted a nautical, Ralph Lauren-inspired look. Surrounded by bluestone pavers, the large, elegant pool balances the size of the house and echoes its classical style.
Michael Bublé and his wife, Luisana, spend most of their time on the home’s deck, which wraps around the entire house, offering sweeping views of the city. The deck is accessible through glass doors from the open living area and principal bedroom and features a large pool and a firepit.
After their three kids left home, homeowners Mike and Sandra Lawrence enlisted landscape designer André Boisvert to convert their conventional pool into a garden lagoon. André took out the slide and most of the cement paving, planted right up to the edge with lilacs, lilies, low-growing cedars and the odd rose bush, and then laid stone for a sitting area.
The sophisticated pool garden creates a grown-up setting, with a sitting “room” shaded with a barn-beam pergola. Eventually, wisteria vines will form a ceiling.
An expansive loggia, accessed by French doors from every room, and a widow’s walk overlook the pool of designer Matthew Sapera’s summer home.
A shady ipewood deck at the foot of the water wall is a secluded spot to enjoy views of nearby Lake Ontario. For a loud-yet-soothing splashing sound, the water wall was built of rough, split-face Algonquin limestone laid in a staggered and recessed pattern.
Tour this backyard on H&H TV.
Built on a slope, the tiered terrace steps down to an infinity-edge pool, drawing the eye to the water and trees.
Toronto architecture firm 3rd Uncle designed this modern home for a busy family of five, and the pool offers a serene escape year-round. The 16-foot saltwater reef tank to the left is visible from the living room as well, and casts a soft glow from the pool back into the house at night.
Trend expert Karen Von Hahn’s patio is perfect for entertaining large crowds. An aluminum railing on the back deck overlooking the pool adds a dockside feel. The oversized table was made from a 19th-century French iron gate welded onto a custom steel base. Its glass top keeps the look airy and water-like.
You’d never know this cottage was in Ontario and not the tropics. The soaring peaked roof of the pool house has a dramatic silhouette against the sky. Wood decking frames the pool like a boardwalk, and fiberglass sofas add a glam note.
The pool at architect Ron Carter’s cottage is simple and stunning. Set on a high point of land, it has expansive views of the rolling hills surrounding Orangeville, Ontario.
In this idyllic backyard pool area, a large crab apple tree offers shade, while the columnar cedar is reminiscent of a sculptural cypress tree.
Landscape architect Mark Hartley designed the flagstone deck to look rough and natural, like it had been there for years.
Fashion designers Joe Mimran and Kimberley Newport-Mimran pose in their Toronto backyard. The home’s exterior, along with the terrace and cabana that surround the pool, are made of Indiana limestone with a patina finish — to make the home look older than it is. The focal point of the backyard is the 50-foot-long pool, surrounded by an axial garden design with symmetrical sightlines from the loggia.
The neoclassical façade of fashion designers Joe Mimran and Kimberley Newport-Mimran’s house — designed by architect Gordon Ridgely with landscaping by Ron Holbrook — is elegantly clad in Indiana limestone. The terrace uses the same material for a seamless look.
This Toronto home is perched on a steep grade down to the beach, so architect Sharon McKenzie designed several terrace levels to make the yard more livable.
Cast-concrete walls and decks surround this angular backyard pool. A waterfall feature provides a focal point and square stepping stones create a path to the other side of the yard.
Nestled in the woods in Catskills, New York, a contemporary pool makes up for the lack of lakefront near this weekend retreat. The surrounding towering trees provide the perfect view for lounging waterside.
Landscape architect Ron Holbrook wanted classic architectural details to define this Toronto yard. Two pavilions draw the eye outward from the house. A gravel area with bistro table is a casual spot to snack after a swim, with comfortable lounge chairs flanking each side of the pool. In the foreground, an upper terrace offers a more formal dining area for entertaining.