A new pool house structure for a young family, featuring a space for family gatherings and entertaining. The highlight of the structure is the featured 2 sliding glass walls, which opens the structure directly to the adjacent pool deck. The space also features a fireplace, indoor kitchen, and bar seating with additional flip-up windows.

Stuart Wade, Envision Virtual Tours The second-largest and most developed of Georgia's barrier islands, St. Simons is approximately twelve miles long and nearly three miles wide at its widest stretch (roughly the size of Manhattan Island in New York). The island is located in Glynn County on Georgia's coast and lies east of Brunswick (the seat of Glynn County), south of Little St. Simons Island and the Hampton River, and north of Jekyll Island. The resort community of Sea Island is separated from St. Simons on the east by the Black Banks River. Known for its oak tree canopies and historic landmarks, St. Simons is both a tourist destination and, according to the 2010 U.S. census, home to 12,743 residents. Early History The earliest St. Simons Island Village record of human habitation on the island dates to the Late Archaic Period, about 5,000 to 3,000 years ago. Remnants of shell rings left behind by Native Americans from this era survive on many of the barrier islands, including St. Simons. Centuries later, during the period known by historians as the chiefdom era, the Guale Indians established a chiefdom centered on St. Catherines Island and used St. Simons as their hunting and fishing grounds. By 1500 the Guale had established a permanent village of about 200 people on St. Simons, which they called Guadalquini. Beginning in 1568, the Spanish attempted to create missions along the Georgia coast. Catholic missions were the primary means by which Georgia's indigenous Native American chiefdoms were assimilated into the Spanish colonial system along the northern frontier of greater Spanish Florida. In the 1600s St. Simons became home to two Spanish missions: San Buenaventura de Guadalquini, on the southern tip of the island, and Santo Domingo de Asao (or Asajo), on the northern tip. Located on the inland side of the island were the pagan refugee villages of San Simón, the island's namesake, and Ocotonico. In 1684 pirate raids left the missions and villages largely abandoned. Colonial History As Fort Frederica early as 1670, with Great Britain's establishment of the colony of Carolina and its expansion into Georgia territory, Spanish rule was threatened by the English. The Georgia coast was considered "debatable land" by England and Spain, even though Spain had fully retreated from St. Simons by 1702. Thirty-one years later General James Edward Oglethorpe founded the English settlement of Savannah. In 1736 he established Fort Frederica, named after the heir to the British throne, Frederick Louis, prince of Wales, on the west side of St. Simons Island to protect Savannah and the Carolinas from the Spanish threat. Between 1736 and 1749 Fort Frederica was the hub of British military operations along the Georgia frontier. A town of the same name grew up around the fort and was of great importance to the new colony. By 1740 Frederica's population was 1,000. In 1736 the congregation of what would become Christ Church was organized within Fort Frederica as a mission of the Church of England. Charles Wesley led the first services. In 1742 Britain's decisive victory over Spain in the Battle of Bloody Marsh, during the War of Jenkins' Ear, ended the Spanish threat to the Georgia coast. When the British regimen disbanded in 1749, most of the townspeople relocated to the mainland. Fort Frederica went into decline and, except for a short time of prosperity during the 1760s and 1770s under the leadership of merchant James Spalding, never fully recovered. Today the historic citadel's tabby ruins are maintained by the National Park Service. Plantation Era By the start of the American Revolution (1775-83), Fort Frederica was obsolete, and St. Simons was left largely uninhabited as most of its residents joined the patriot army. Besides hosting a small Georgia naval victory on the Fort Frederica River, providing guns from its famous fort for use at Fort Morris in Sunbury, and serving as an arena for pillaging by privateers and British soldiers, the island played almost no role in the war. Following the war, many of the townspeople, their businesses destroyed, turned to agriculture. The island was transformed into fourteen cotton plantations after acres of live oak trees were cleared for farm land and used for building American warships, including the famous USS Constitution, or "Old Ironsides." Although rice was the predominant crop along the neighboring Altamaha River, St. Simons was known for its production of long-staple cotton, which soon came to be known as Sea Island cotton. Between Ebos Landing the 1780s and the outbreak of the Civil War (1861-65), St. Simons's plantation culture flourished. The saline atmosphere and the availability of cheap slave labor proved an ideal combination for the cultivation of Sea Island cotton. In 1803 a group of Ebo slaves who survived the Middle Passage and arrived on the west side of St. Simons staged a rebellion and drowned themselves. The sacred site is known today as Ebos Landing. One of the largest owners of land and slaves on St. Simons was Pierce Butler, master of Hampton Point Plantation, located on the northern end of the island. By 1793 Butler owned more than 500 slaves, who cultivated 800 acres of cotton on St. Simons and 300 acres of rice on Butler's Island in the Altamaha River delta. Butler's grandson, Pierce Mease Butler, who at the age of sixteen inherited a share of his grandfather's estate in 1826, was responsible for the largest sale of human beings in the history of the United States: in 1859, to restore his squandered fortune, he sold 429 slaves in Savannah for more than $300,000. The British actress and writer Fanny Kemble, whose tumultuous marriage to Pierce ended in divorce in 1849, published an eyewitness account of the evils of slavery on St. Simons in her book Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838-1839 (1863). Another Retreat Plantation large owner of land and slaves on St. Simons was Major William Page, a friend and employee of Pierce Butler Sr. Before purchasing Retreat Plantation on the southwestern tip of the island in 1804, Page managed the Hampton plantation and Butler's Island. Upon Page's death in 1827, Thomas Butler King inherited the land together with his wife, Page's daughter, Anna Matilda Page King. King expanded his father-in-law's planting empire on St. Simons as well as on the mainland, and by 1835 Retreat Plantation alone was home to as many as 355 slaves. The center of life during the island's plantation era was Christ Church, Frederica. Organized in 1807 by a group of island planters, the Episcopal church is the second oldest in the Diocese of Georgia. Embargoes imposed by the War of 1812 (1812-15) prevented the parishioners from building a church structure, so they worshiped in the home of John Beck, which stood on the site of Oglethorpe's only St. Simons residence, Orange Hall. The first Christ Church building, finished on the present site in 1820, was ruined by occupying Union troops during the Civil War. In 1884 the Reverend Anson Dodge Jr. rebuilt the church as a memorial to his first wife, Ellen. The cruciform building with a trussed gothic roof and stained-glass windows remains active today as Christ Church. Civil War and Beyond The St. Simons Island Lighthouse outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 put a sudden end to St. Simons's lucrative plantation era. In January of that year, Confederate troops were stationed at the south end of the island to guard the entrance to Brunswick Harbor. Slaves from Retreat Plantation, owned by Thomas Butler King, built earthworks and batteries. Plantation residents were scattered—the men joined the Confederate army and their families moved to the mainland. Cannon fire was heard on the island in December 1861, and Confederate troops retreated in February 1862, after dynamiting the lighthouse to keep its beacon from aiding Union troops. Soon thereafter, Union troops occupied the island, which was used as a camp for freed slaves. By August 1862 more than 500 former slaves lived on St. Simons, including Susie King Taylor, who organized a school for freed slave children. But in November the ex-slaves were taken to Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Fernandina, Florida, leaving the island abandoned. After the Civil War the island never returned to its status as an agricultural community. The plantations lay dormant because there were no slaves to work the fields. After Union general William T. Sherman's January 1865 Special Field Order No. 15 —a demand that former plantations be divided and distributed to former slaves—was overturned by U.S. president Andrew Johnson less than a year later, freedmen and women were forced to work as sharecroppers on the small farms that dotted the land previously occupied by the sprawling plantations. By St. Simons Lumber Mills 1870 real economic recovery began with the reestablishment of the timber industry. Norman Dodge and Titus G. Meigs of New York set up lumber mill operations at Gascoigne Bluff, formerly Hamilton Plantation. The lumber mills provided welcome employment for both blacks and whites and also provided mail and passenger boats to the mainland. Such water traffic, together with the construction of a new lighthouse in 1872, designed by architect Charles B. Cluskey, marked the beginning of St. Simons's tourism industry. The keeper of the lighthouse created a small amusement park, which drew many visitors, as did the seemingly miraculous light that traveled from the top of the lighthouse tower to the bottom. The island became a summer retreat for families from the mainland, particularly from Baxley, Brunswick, and Waycross. The island's resort industry was thriving by the 1880s. Beachfront structures, such as a new pier and grand hotel, were built on the southeastern end of the island and could be accessed by ferry. Around this time wealthy northerners began vacationing on the island. Twentieth Century The St. Simons Island Pier and Village opening in 1924 of the Brunswick–St. Simons Highway, today known as the Torras Causeway, was a milestone in the development of resorts in the area. St. Simons's beaches were now easily accessible to locals and tourists alike. More than 5,000 automobiles took the short drive from Brunswick to St. Simons via the causeway on its opening day, paving the way for convenient residential and resort development. In 1926 automotive pioneer Howard Coffin of Detroit, Michigan, bought large tracts of land on St. Simons, including the former Retreat Plantation, and constructed a golf course, yacht club, paved roads, and a residential subdivision. Although the causeway had brought large numbers of summer people to the island, St. Simons remained a small community with only a few hundred permanent residents until the 1940s. The St. Simons Island outbreak of World War II (1941-45) brought more visitors and residents to St. Simons. Troops stationed at Jacksonville, Florida; Savannah; and nearby Camp Stewart took weekend vacations on the island, and a new naval air base and radar school became home to even more officers and soldiers. The increased wartime population brought the island its first public school. With a major shipyard for the production of Liberty ships in nearby Brunswick, the waters of St. Simons became active with German U-boats. In April 1942, just off the coast, the Texas Company oil tanker S. S. Oklahoma and the S. S. Esso Baton Rouge were torpedoed by the Germans, bringing the war very close to home for island residents. Due in large part to the military's improvement of the island's infrastructure during the war, development on the island boomed in the 1950s and 1960s. More permanent homes and subdivisions were built, and the island was no longer just a summer resort but also a thriving community. In 1950 the Methodist conference and retreat center Epworth by the Sea opened on Gascoigne Bluff. In 1961 novelist Eugenia Price visited St. Simons and began work on her first works of fiction, known as the St. Simons Trilogy. Inspired by real events on the island, Price's trilogy renewed interest in the history of Georgia's coast, and the novelist herself relocated to the island in 1965 and lived there for thirty-one years. St. Simons is also home to contemporary Georgia writer Tina McElroy Ansa. Since Epworth by the Sea 1980 St. Simons's population has doubled. The island's continued status as a vacation destination and its ongoing development boom have put historic landmarks and natural areas at risk. While such landmarks as the Fort Frederica ruins and the Battle of Bloody Marsh site are preserved and maintained by the National Park Service, and while the historic lighthouse is maintained by the Coastal Georgia Historical Society, historic Ebos Landing has been taken over by a sewage treatment plant. Several coastal organizations have formed in recent years to save natural areas on the island. The St. Simons Land Trust, for example, has received donations of large tracts of land and plans to protect property in the island's three traditional African American neighborhoods. Despite its rapid growth and development, St. Simons remains one of the most beautiful and important islands on the Georgia coast.

Photo by Paul Bardagjy
Inspiration for a large contemporary backyard concrete patio remodel in Austin with a roof extension

---Design and Photography by: Marco Romani, RLA--- ---Construction/Installation by: www.thearrowshop.com
Example of a classic backyard stone patio kitchen design in Chicago with a pergola

Design ideas for a mid-sized traditional partial sun backyard mulch retaining wall landscape in Boston.

Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary backyard patio remodel in Phoenix with decking and a roof extension

Kate Blehar John T. Pugh, Architect, LLC is an architectural design firm located in Boston, Massachusetts. John is a registered architect, whose design work has been published and exhibited both nationally and internationally. In addition to his design accolades, John is a seasoned project manager who personally works with each client to design and craft their beautiful new residence or addition. Our firm can provide clients with seamless concept to construction close-out project delivery. If a client prefers working in a more traditional design-only basis, we warmly welcome that approach as well. “Customer first, customer focused” is our approach to every project.

The home’s modest proportions call for appropriate deck treatment. But discreet pops of color hint at an exciting interior. In the same way, the horizontal metal rail fades at distances but up close makes a statement.

To read more about this project, click here or start at the Great Lakes Metal Fabrication metal railing page.

The clients wanted a fence that would not obscure the view of the pool or detract from the surrounding environment. Glass fence was the only solution. The fence consists of small stainless steel posts that are set int the patio. Two posts per panel. The glass is 1/2" tempered glass, polished and coated with ClearShield for easy maintenance. The gates are self closing with dampeners that prevent slamming.

Kaihani wanted to create a space that reminded her of Hawaii. A vacation getaway in her own backyard. We revamped the pool, adding a flowing water feature and glowing stones. We resurfaced the deck with hardy Ipe wood and travertine. And we created a cozy seating area next to an elegant fire pit. To get to Hawaii, Kaihani only has to step out her back door. It's breath taking...it's like being back home in Hawaii. Melissa Wright

Massive addition and renovation adding a pond, waterfall, bridges, a chapel, boulder work, gardens and 5,000 SF log/stone addition to an existing home. The addition has a large theater, wine room, bar, new master suite, huge great room with lodge-size fireplace, sitting room and outdoor covered/heated patio with outdoor kitchen. Photo by Kimberly Gavin.

A beverage center -- located close to the dining room -- provides easy access for preparing drinks.
Example of a classic kitchen design in Other with recessed-panel cabinets and white cabinets

The Latin Quarter of Paris has a prime location close to everything. This neighbourhood is rich with history and literature fans will love immersing themselves in this area. This area is home to the prestigious La Sorbonne university. From your front door, you are steps from the Seine River and the Ile Saint Louis, Notre Dame and Ile de la Cite. Saint Michel, Saint Germain des Prés and the Jardin des Plantes are all within walking distance. At your doorstep you’ll find a huge array of restaurants, bistros, cafés, ice cream parlours, florists, artisan chocolatiers, art galleries and much more! There is also the famous Rue Mouffetard nearby, dotted with a wide variety of cafes, restaurants, butchers, grocers and more. Within walking distance of the apartment is the fantastic Pantheon, the resting place of many important French figures. The Jardin du Luxembourg is only a few minutes away - perfect for a morning jog, afternoon picnic or sunset stroll.

Adding curves to patios provides elegance to a design, although requires specialized equipment and a skilled tradesman.
Inspiration for a mid-sized rustic full sun front yard brick landscaping in Toronto.

Design ideas for a mid-sized transitional partial sun backyard landscaping in Los Angeles.

Clients were wanting to expand their 50's era semi-bungalow to a full two storey so they could add one more bedroom and bathroom to their second level. Part of the plan was to create an actual master suite with proper ensuite bathroom and walk-in closet space. Phase one took the project to drywall stage, but later we added phase two where we finished the rest of the second level to finish stage along with a complete refresh of the main level with new finishings including flooring and counter-tops. The exterior of the home was also re-done including new windows, doors, and siding plus roof shingles of course. The result was a great and expanded character bungalow in a very desirable area located close to downtown.

Photo by Ashley Elizabeth Ford
Photo of a small eclectic backyard landscaping in Los Angeles.

Inspiration for a large mediterranean backyard stone and custom-shaped natural pool fountain remodel in Orlando

Living Room 9 Mountain Road, Wilton NEW PRICE & BEST VALUE IN WILTON! | $1,295,000 | Set high atop a hill, this gorgeous farmhouse colonial offers 4 finished floors of exquisite craftsmanship & custom millwork throughout. Stylishly renovated in 2012, this gracious residence radiates a chic country ambiance throughout a charming sophisticated interior. This sun drenched home offers a private setting, beautifully framed by stone walls & ornamental trees throughout your professionally landscaped property. The exterior also features shingle siding, copper gutters, a brick paver driveway & a beautiful mahogany wrap around porch. This home offers an outstanding open layout, perfect for everyday living as well as entertaining. Enter into your grand 2-story foyer with coffered ceilings & get ready to be impressed! Superior finishes are found throughout, including random width oak floors, air-brushed panels, recessed lighting and built in sound systems. Pass by your formal living & dining room & enter into your spacious family room w/wood beamed ceiling, large stone fireplace & cupola. Off of the family room is your stunning gourmet kitchen, offering Sub-zero & Wolf appliances, large Carrera island & butlers pantry w/2 fridge drawers, warming drawer, sink, dishwasher & subzero wine cooler. Feel right at home in your breakfast nook, which offers great natural light & a perfect spot for informal dining. A bright playroom/library, mud room & oversized 2-car garage completes the first floor. The entertaining extends down to your finished lower level w/home theater, bar, sauna & lounge area with wine room potential. Outdoor entertaining is easy with a built in grill, fridge, in-ground hot tub, sound system, expansive stone patio & level fenced backyard. When its time to relax, your luxurious master suite offers a perfect retreat. The spacious master bedroom features a sitting/dressing area, 3 walk-in closets & double-sided fireplace into your Master Bathroom. The stunning master bath offers vaulted ceilings, surround sound, radiant floors, air bubble tub, huge walk-in shower & 2 vanities. The 2nd level also features 3 additional bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, laundry room & ample closet space throughout. The 3rd level offers a bonus room/en-suite with vaulted ceilings, marble full bath, gas fireplace & lots of natural light and storage. Convenient location; close to it all. School bus stops at the end of the driveway. Only 1 mile to the train station. A truly special home. Not to be missed! Our team delivers a high level of expertise, outstanding service and the Best Results. Call, text, or email Jillian at 203.858.2095 | Jklaff@Jillianklaff.com, or Megan at 918.671.4802 | Megan.donofrio@raveis.com.