Yard of the Week: New Pool, Pavilion, Patio and Meadow Garden
A landscape architect and a design-build firm team up to make this Virginia backyard a family’s favorite destination
This McLean, Virginia, backyard was an almost completely blank slate when the homeowners hired landscape architect Joseph Richardson and Winn Design + Build firm owner Michael Winn to breathe new life into it. “There was a somewhat dilapidated patio and some pergolas that were ready for an update. It was looking a little sad,” Winn says. “The homeowners’ three daughters were very into swimming and involved with swim teams. Also, they were approaching their teenage years, and their parents wanted their house to be the place where their daughters would gather with their friends.”
The design pros tackled the homeowners’ wish list: a pool, a spa, a pool house with a powder room, flowering gardens, fire elements, a redone patio closer to the house and an outdoor kitchen. The new design provides a modern contrast to the traditional house and has made the homeowners’ backyard the place where their friends and family want to be.
The design pros tackled the homeowners’ wish list: a pool, a spa, a pool house with a powder room, flowering gardens, fire elements, a redone patio closer to the house and an outdoor kitchen. The new design provides a modern contrast to the traditional house and has made the homeowners’ backyard the place where their friends and family want to be.
“The house is white and has traditional style. For the pool house, our clients wanted something that felt less traditional, with contemporary elements,” Winn says. “Because it is separate, we could take some liberties and create interesting contrast.”
While the pool house has a classic scale and structure, the minimalism of the architecture, the dark charcoal color and the finishes are contemporary. The straight lines Richardson created in the landscape follow suit. For example, the long, horizontal line of the wall behind the lounge chairs is a simple yet impactful modern gesture.
While the pool house has a classic scale and structure, the minimalism of the architecture, the dark charcoal color and the finishes are contemporary. The straight lines Richardson created in the landscape follow suit. For example, the long, horizontal line of the wall behind the lounge chairs is a simple yet impactful modern gesture.
Winn gave a large fireplace a strong presence by placing it in the pool house’s center. A custom cap on top of the chimney adds to the fire feature’s appearance and ties it to the architecture.
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The pool house measures 22 by 22 feet. It has a standing-seam metal roof and a fiber cement siding from Boral with nickel gaps between planks. The trim in the pool house is Azek, a PVC product. “It’s a little tricky to paint Azek a dark color like this, because it expands and contracts a bit with temperature changes. This reveals a white color, so you have to come back and touch it up for a few seasons,” Winn says.
This photo also shows the irregular edge of the pool terrace, which is composed of 20-by-30-inch pavers by Techo-Bloc. “The irregular edge is visually striking, and the homeowners knew they didn’t want to have to cut any of the pavers,” Richardson says. To get the right size for the pool terrace, he placed the furniture around the pool to determine where the edge could go. This allowed him to remove unneeded pavers one by one to create a terrace that fits the scale of the furniture while maximizing the lawn area.
This photo also shows the irregular edge of the pool terrace, which is composed of 20-by-30-inch pavers by Techo-Bloc. “The irregular edge is visually striking, and the homeowners knew they didn’t want to have to cut any of the pavers,” Richardson says. To get the right size for the pool terrace, he placed the furniture around the pool to determine where the edge could go. This allowed him to remove unneeded pavers one by one to create a terrace that fits the scale of the furniture while maximizing the lawn area.
Doors on either side of the chimney lead to a utility room on the left and a powder room on the right. The utility room has storage space for outdoor furniture and cushions.
The fireplace surround is board-formed concrete. Winn and Richardson repeated this element in a few spots in the design. The color of the chimney adds warmth and contrast to the dark charcoal siding, as does the wood-look composite TimberTech product Winn used on the ceiling. “The wood look serves as a warming element that makes the high-ceilinged space feel more intimate,” he says.
The fireplace surround is board-formed concrete. Winn and Richardson repeated this element in a few spots in the design. The color of the chimney adds warmth and contrast to the dark charcoal siding, as does the wood-look composite TimberTech product Winn used on the ceiling. “The wood look serves as a warming element that makes the high-ceilinged space feel more intimate,” he says.
Winn uplit the wood-look ceiling for a warm glow at night, and Richardson added one continuous line of LED lights along the 60-foot-long wall on the left. “We ran LED lights across the entire facade of the wall, rather than placing individual lights. It lends a consistency to the lighting effect,” Richardson says.
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Browse outdoor lighting
This side of the pool house has bar seating at the peninsula. The countertop is Dekton, a durable sintered stone suitable for outdoor use. This peninsula contains a sink, a fridge, an ice maker, trash pullouts and storage.
Past the bar is an outdoor shower for rinsing off after a swim.
What to Know About Adding an Outdoor Bar or Counter
Past the bar is an outdoor shower for rinsing off after a swim.
What to Know About Adding an Outdoor Bar or Counter
The powder room has a custom floating wood vanity and heated hexagonal ceramic floor tiles.
The pool is 22 feet wide and 50 feet long. Richardson had to consider scale for every element in the yard because of the size of the pool and terrace. “Our clients knew they wanted 10 to 12 lounge chairs [and] room for 20 people in the pool and nine people in the spa,” he says.
The lounge chairs look out toward the wooded edge of the yard, which gives a private feeling.
The lounge chairs look out toward the wooded edge of the yard, which gives a private feeling.
This plan shows how the pool and pool house are centered off the house and its adjacent patio. Other details worth noting include the irregular edge of the pavers on one side of the pool and the transitional area between the patio and the pool terrace, located off the left end of the pool.
The spa is raised above the pool’s level. This allows for cascading water to create a relaxing sound in the yard.
Winn nestled the pool house up against the existing canopy trees.
“These homeowners are passionate about plants and had 10 to 12 must-have perennials on their list,” Richardson says. Two of those are coneflowers (Echinacea ‘Purple Emperor’ and E. purpurea ‘Green Jewel’) and pink muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris, USDA zones 6 to 9; find your zone). Richardson gave the garden along the wall a meadow-like look, mixing perennials, grasses and flowering shrubs. “These plantings provide dramatic interest all season,” he says. The garden softly contrasts with the wall’s strong horizontal gesture.
A line of ‘Green Giant’ arborvitae (Thuja ‘Green Giant’, zones 5 to 8) creates an evergreen backdrop and provides privacy from neighboring houses. The landscape architect notes that he visited the site recently and that these trees have more than doubled in size.
How to Design a Meadow Garden Everyone Will Love
A line of ‘Green Giant’ arborvitae (Thuja ‘Green Giant’, zones 5 to 8) creates an evergreen backdrop and provides privacy from neighboring houses. The landscape architect notes that he visited the site recently and that these trees have more than doubled in size.
How to Design a Meadow Garden Everyone Will Love
This photo offers a better look at the 60-foot-long wall. Like the fireplace surround, it is made of board-formed concrete. The wall serves double duty, providing extra seating on this side and serving as a retaining wall, because the grade drops about 18 inches behind it.
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Check out our beginner’s guide to get started on your home project
The left side of this photo shows part of the patio that runs along the back of the house. Richardson created terraces to navigate the grade change between this patio and the pool area. He continued the pavers from around the pool up wide steps and onto the upper patio. Planting beds fill out the terraces.
“This is a big pool with a big spa and a big pool terrace, which meant there was a lot of paving,” Richardson says. “By adding beds in with the steps, it was a fun way to soften this grade change.”
The upper patio has an outdoor kitchen that includes a grilling station, a fridge, an ice maker, a trash receptacle and storage.
“This is a big pool with a big spa and a big pool terrace, which meant there was a lot of paving,” Richardson says. “By adding beds in with the steps, it was a fun way to soften this grade change.”
The upper patio has an outdoor kitchen that includes a grilling station, a fridge, an ice maker, a trash receptacle and storage.
The irregular edge along the pool surround adds a modern touch.
The upper patio has a fire pit lounge overlooking the pool and pool house. This gas fire pit, like the fireplace in the pool house, is board-formed concrete. “Board-formed concrete was an element we repeated throughout the yard,” Winn says. Repeating materials creates a cohesive feel from the house to the pool house.
“These were homeowners who had a grand vision and knew exactly what they wanted,” Richardson says. “You really can’t tell from the front of the house what’s going on back here, and compared to the backyard, the house is relatively modest. They tell me their favorite thing is when people come over for the first time, walk through the gate and have their minds blown.”
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“These were homeowners who had a grand vision and knew exactly what they wanted,” Richardson says. “You really can’t tell from the front of the house what’s going on back here, and compared to the backyard, the house is relatively modest. They tell me their favorite thing is when people come over for the first time, walk through the gate and have their minds blown.”
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Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their three daughters
Location: McLean, Virginia
Pavilion size: 484 square feet (45 square meters)
Designers: Joseph Richardson (landscape architecture); Michael Winn of Winn Design + Build (design and build)
This photo was taken from a new patio directly off the house looking toward the pool. Richardson presented the homeowners with a few options for the pool and pool house locations, and ultimately they decided they wanted one close to the home. He centered the pool off the house and the new patio.
“There were a few large tulip poplar trees on the property that were in decline that they would have ultimately had to take out,” Richardson says. “But there were canopy trees that were in great shape that we were able to preserve with this location. Also, this placement left a lot of lawn next to the pool, where the kids can play soccer.” The yard slopes down behind the pool house and to the left side of the pool terrace.
With the jumping-off point of the site planning settled, Winn worked on designing the pool house while Richardson tackled the landscape.
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