Freeform Lagoon
Curves, a shallow lounge area and a mosaic table set in the water give the pool a resort feel.
The Project
Inside The Hidden Jewel
A freeform pool with glowing step-down benches, a covered bar with its own TV, and a front yard refreshed to match.
The Hidden Jewel is a remodel in Gilbert, built for evenings at home. Block walls and neighboring rooflines surround the backyard, so the design turns inward: a freeform pool with light built into its stone, a covered bar with its own TV, and a fire pit lounge, all within a few steps of the back door.
The pool curves in and out like a lagoon. In a shallow lounge area, a round table finished in blue glass mosaic stands right in the water. A raised spa clad in the same mosaic tile spills into the pool, and a curved wall of white stacked stone along the back sends sheer descents into the water. A band of patterned tile runs along the waterline.
Lighting is what earns the name. Linear lights sit under the coping of the stone wall, the raised spa and the curved step-down benches, so at dusk the edges glow and every step is easy to read. Pool lights, path lights and uplit palms and bougainvillea along the back wall finish the scene.
The covered bar is its own structure, with a dark slatted ceiling, recessed lights and a ceiling fan. Upholstered stools pull up to a long bar counter facing the pool, a wall-mounted TV hangs on a slatted accent wall, and a built-in stainless grill and side burner sit under the same roof. A decorative metal screen fills one opening and frames the vines on the wall behind it.
Across the travertine deck, a square fire pit with low lounge chairs sits beside the lit pool steps, and a turf lawn with stepping pavers curves along the house. A daybed lounger under a cantilever umbrella sits next to the spa.
The front yard was refreshed to match: turf with stepping pavers to the entry gate, a raised planter with an olive tree, and a courtyard laid in a paver and turf grid with seating and a bowl fountain.
