Gentleman's club style billiard room with mahogany paneling, a coffered ceiling and a bar with beer on tap set the tone for games around an antique pool table. Photography Alain Jaramillo

Relaxing in the summertime has never looked more beautiful. Whether you're looking to catch some sun, or cool off from a hot day, you will find plenty of amusement with this project. This timeless, contemporary pool house will be the biggest hit among friends and family.

“To update the old game room, the room is now called a Museum Room. A monorail tract with art lighting circles the room. A large comfy sectional took the place of the Pool Table and another small grouping for conversation.”

An historic St. Louis home by architect Frederick Dunn has a refurbished yard designed in harmony with the clean lines of the home and grounds. Some of the limestone pavers around the heated pool are tented to aid in water run off. The pool also has fountain features. Photo by Toby Weiss for Mosby Building Arts

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Small spaces can be the best. This pool and spa separated with a sheet of acrylic gives this pool an uninterrupted look. The limestone wall acts as a backdrop for the garden urn creating a focal piece of art

The new billiard area is spacious for a gathering of friends and family. Built in cabinetry is plentiful for storage and the new staircase adds a beautiful entry into the newly designed space featuring the one of a kind stainless and copper pool table.

Peter Koenig Landscape Designer, Gene Radding General Contracting, Creative Environments Swimming Pool Construction
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Originally designed by one of the most notable landscape architects in town, this once impressive project had faltered in recent years. The pool and spa still functioned well, and the client wanted to keep it intact. In addition, they wanted to keep as much of the existing landscaping as possible. The surrounding decks, walls, and steps were fair game. At first glance, one might think that our changes were simple material changes. Upon closer inspection, however, one can see the subtle, yet transformative changes that come together to update this classic pool in a tasteful, timeless manner, and improve the flow and usability of the deck areas, while softening the feel of the massive hardscape. The subtle changes begin as soon as you walk out the back door of the house. The existing decking had a lot of what we call “tweeners”; areas that are overly generous walkways, yet not large enough to house furniture. The awkwardly small bluestone patio was expanded to accommodate a generous seating area, by pushing the step-down closer to the pool. Our talented stone mason carefully married the new bluestone into the existing, resulting in an imperceptible difference between the two. As you descend the new bluestone steps to the pool level, your bare feet will be thankful for the new smooth-finished limestone colored concrete, with a hand cut pattern carefully etched into its surface. The old red brick decking was so hot that the owners could not walk around the pool in bare feet. The brick coping was also replaced with an eased edge Pennsylvania Premier Stone which matches the new step treads throughout the project. Between the house and the pool, a large raised planter was reconfigured, giving additional space to the pool deck for a shaded lounge chair area. Across the pool, a bank of rather tall painted brick retaining walls were cut down, shortened, and moved. This lessened the visual impact of the walls, which were rather overwhelming in the space, as well as opening up a new seating area, nestled under the arms of the massive pecan at the back of the property. Rather than continuing solid decking around the entire pool, the area near these walls has been transformed to large stone stepper pads set in a sea of beautiful St. Augustine lawn. This creates a visually softened area that is still suited to setting tables and chairs when the guest list calls for additional seating. The spa area is quite possibly the most dramatic change on this project. Yet more raised planter walls divided this area into awkward spaces, unsuited to proper furniture placement. The planters were removed, new stone decks, once again expertly married into the existing, opening the area to house a large dining table and new built in bbq area. The spa itself was re-imagined with the bluestone coping, and painted brick veneer. The most impressive addition though is the new handmade glazed tiles that surround the existing cast stone water feature. This water feature was almost unnoticeable against the painted brick wall, but now the dramatic arch and pop of color draw the eye to this quaint little corner of the property.

Heather Fritz
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Designed with an open floor plan and layered outdoor spaces, the Onaway is a perfect cottage for narrow lakefront lots. The exterior features elements from both the Shingle and Craftsman architectural movements, creating a warm cottage feel. An open main level skillfully disguises this narrow home by using furniture arrangements and low built-ins to define each spaces’ perimeter. Every room has a view to each other as well as a view of the lake. The cottage feel of this home’s exterior is carried inside with a neutral, crisp white, and blue nautical themed palette. The kitchen features natural wood cabinetry and a long island capped by a pub height table with chairs. Above the garage, and separate from the main house, is a series of spaces for plenty of guests to spend the night. The symmetrical bunk room features custom staircases to the top bunks with drawers built in. The best views of the lakefront are found on the master bedrooms private deck, to the rear of the main house. The open floor plan continues downstairs with two large gathering spaces opening up to an outdoor covered patio complete with custom grill pit.

Pool Table that converts to a dining table. Can convert from 30" to 32" with mechanism built in. Comes in many different metal and wood finishes, including cloth color of choice.

Daniel Kelly Photography
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photos by Steve Chenn
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We designed the shed to fit with the feel of a rural farmstead. Rob Karosis
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