Outdoor Spaces Showcase : Summer Migration

Warming temperatures are already promising a spring and summer filled with outdoor activities

. As you start to think about getting the best use from your backyard, weve gathered projects from around the state that might inspire you. We begin with projects in three different towns and cap our coverage with a review of the outdoor spaces at the 2009 Stately Homes By-the-Sea Designer Show House in Rumson.

The owners had some clear ideas for the outdoor spaces at their new home in Alpine. The landscaping had to complement the surrounding hills with seasonal color and lots of usable spaces for entertaining, says Mitch Knapp, owner of Scenic Landscaping and co-owner with Richard Zimmer of Tapestry Landscape Architecture. They also wanted a swimming pool suitable for friends and family, particularly their grandchildren, who live nearby, says Craig Bagin, construction manager for B&B Pool and Spa Center. To meet the homeowners landscaping goals, Knapp says, walls of hand-tooled Karney bluestone with limestone caps were built to tame the slope of the front yard and create spaces for gardening. In the backyard, which also slopes, specimen plants and trees were added for color and privacy, including Japanese maples and weeping cedars, Knapp says.

The owners chose a rectilinear pool to complement their formal home, Bagin says, and B&B dressed it up with curved Grecian corners. With the grandchildren in mind, B&B designed a pool ranging from three to five feet in depth. An elevated spa features a stacked bluestone veneer exterior. Underwater benches follow the curve of the spa at the one end and provide two additional resting spots at the deeper end, says Bagin, a member of the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals. Features include a quartz-enhanced diamond-polished interior finish, color-change lighting, heating, and automatic cleaning systems. Patios of French limestone chosen because it remains cool on bare feet in the summer sun include wrought - iron tables, a kitchen, bar, and grilling are a all with a formal design that complements the house designed by architect Roland Scharfspitz. The grilling area features handtooled stone veneer sides and a granite countertop. The landscape, though lush in nature, was designed to maintain a balance through massing, repetition, and continuous flow, adds Adam Swierkowski of Scenic Landscaping.

by: Mark

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