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Case Study: Existing Swimming pool design did not capture the essence of the home or the surrounding landscape.

Realtors always say that the three most important things to look for in a property are location, location and location. This old saying rang loud and clear for our clients when looking to remove their old uninspired swimming pool and create something truly custom and unique. The home is situated on ten secluded mountain top acres with a captivating view of the valley and nearby city below. Our clients loved their home and the rest of their property but were left feeling disappointed when in their old swimming pool and the landscaping in the surrounding area. Being seasoned world travelers, the homeowners had strong opinions on the landscape design, layout and materials. This turned out to be our best catalyst for bringing our swimming pool to a higher level of design and craftsmanship.

Location: Kinnelon New Jersey

Primary Landscape & Swimming Pool Designer: Bill Moore licensed NJ Landscape Architect of Cipriano Custom Swimming Pools & Landscaping

Infield Designer: Chris Cipriano

Swimming Pool & landscape Construction: Cipriano Custom Swimming Pools & Landscaping

Masonry Construction: Cipriano Custom Swimming Pools & Landscaping

Solution: Custom infinity edge swimming pool and landscaping design / construction.

Infinity-edge swimming pool with custom features:

• Fiber optic lighting which imitates a star illuminated night.
• Colored fiber optic deck jet fountains which shoot colored water stream into the pool.
• Colored pool lights with 50 color options.
• Hand crafted iridescent glass tile set in a Grecian key pattern on the waterline and pool bottom.
• In floor pool cleaning system in the swimming pool and spa.
• Custom profiled pool coping designed by the Custom Stone Finishes division of Cipriano

Landscape and Masonry Features:

• Marbleized Limestone set in multiple patterns.
• Natural stone piers with custom profiled trim and caps with built in irrigation and lighting.
• Natural stone outdoor kitchen with stainless appliances with custom profiled trim and corbels.
• Stone gazebo and garden ornaments and precast urns.
• Tuscany design for the landscape garden.

Solution: Custom Infinity Edge Swimming Pool and Landscaping Design / construction.

The goal of the swimming pool design was to create an infinity edge swimming pool that accentuated the views off site. Setting the pool elevation and location on the property were scrutinized thoroughly. The shape was set to be a roman end pool with plenty of seating, a large spa and a Sunshelf at the shallow end, allowing all users a chance for active and passive recreation. The patio layout again was designed to allow users to spread out and enjoy the vast views with our new pool in the foreground.

The house and surrounding landscape were on top of a mountain. Some of the landscape had rock shelf just a few feet down while other areas had up to a twenty foot depth of unsuitable fill conditions. The swimming pool area and subsurface soil were excavated to suitable shelf and subgrade, this required 1000 tons of clean stone below the pool and another 400 tons of compactable fill surrounding. This provided the stable base for the swimming pool, patios and landscaping.

The finishes on the swimming pool are what really took this pool from great to spectacular. For example, the waterline tile of the swimming pool consisted of a two color hand casted half inch by half inch iridescent glass tile set in a Grecian key pattern. Pulling from that tile, one inch by one inch tiles were set at all the benches, steps and shelves as well as the overflow to the infinity edge. This led us to the installation of a three color iridescent glass Grecian key and border detail at the bottom of the swimming pool with a combined profile of approximately thirty inches wide. The floor tile was an add-on and was very challenging to install due to the head locations of the in floor pool cleaning system. In addition to the in floor cleaning system, the tile and plaster installation crews had to tiptoe around 200 fiber optic star floor lights on the pool floor. The swimming pool plaster was selected to accentuate the tile, using a washed, exposed aggregate finish which glistens in the summer sun.

The limestone coping was template cut on site and we had the limestone detailed with a custom profile by our stone masons.

The natural stone patio surrounding the swimming pool was another material that was unique to this landscaping project. Countless samples and testing were reviewed to match a photo the homeowners had of a pool in France. A limestone quarried from mid-west North America was selected. The coping and borders were a white range limestone. The patio field was a grey range limestone. Both were flame finished tops and all stone was set on 6” thick engineered concrete slabs.

Lastly, the landscape lighting on the pool was another layer of the swimming pool which was tough on installation, but proved to be a breathtaking element to the project. There are two hundred star lights on the bottom of the swimming pool, three multi-color wall mounted lights in the spa and swimming pool and four illuminated deck jets on the corners. The urns on the masonry piers at the far side of the swimming pool have landscape lighting as do the entry piers. The landscape lighting design just finishes off the surrounding features, it accents and adds a whole new dimension to the swimming pool and landscaping after sunset.

While the view from the house overlooking the valley was always breathtaking, we feel we have achieved a worthwhile foreground to that view. Our homeowners described the feeling of purchasing artwork when we discussed this project and said how, “Artwork is nice, you look at it, it makes you think and then you walk away”. The swimming pool surrounding landscape is much like that artwork they described except that, you look at the pool, it is nice, it makes you think, but then you don’t walk away, you enjoy the swimming pool for many years to come.

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Before and Construction Photos

Completed Project Photos

Case Study: Uninspiring Swimming Pool in a Terrible Location with no Landscaping in the Backyard Design

Our prospect reached out to us because he saw our work and was hoping we could address some concerns he had with his swimming pool and landscaping. He told us he had purchased home with the swimming pool but the pool had some operating and cosmetic issues, he also felt the swimming pool was to close to the home. In addition to the swimming pool concerns there were considerable erosion and landscape issues which also needed to be addressed.

Location: Mahwah, Bergen County New Jersey

Primary Landscape & Swimming Pool Designer: Bill Moore licensed NJ Landscape Architect of Cipriano Custom Swimming Pools & Landscaping

Infield Designer: Chris Cipriano

Swimming Pool & landscape Construction: Cipriano Custom Swimming Pools & Landscaping

Masonry Construction: Cipriano Custom Swimming Pools & Landscaping

Solution: A New Custom Natural Style Adirondack Swimming Pool and Landscaping Design with Spa, Volcanic Fire Pit and Large Natural Stone Waterfalls

Adirondack style swimming pool with custom features:

• Mammoth swimming pool with over 1350 square foot of swimming area.
• Sun shelf garnished with hand crafted iridescent glass tile
• Fiber optic pool lighting built into large natural waterfalls.
• Colored pool lights with 50 color options.
• Hand crafted iridescent glass tile set into trim of swimming pool and spa.
• 250 Tons of boulders used to build a natural setting waterfall towering over the swimming pool.

Landscape and Masonry Features:

• Custom Volcanic Fire Pit™ offered exclusively from Cipriano Custom Swimming Pools and Landscaping
• Natural TCO patio
• Large boulders set for swimming pool waterfalls and blended into the landscape design.
• Custom outdoor kitchen with built in grill, granite veneer and stone corbels
• Lush gardens with colorful plants surround the swimming pool area deep into the woods to add layering and depth to the landscaping.
• Engineered rain garden and bio swale for storm water management.

We took him on a tour of some of our local custom landscaping and swimming pool projects. After looking at three local pools, we had worked out the size, shape of the swimming pool, height of waterfalls, type of boulders and patio/ coping stone to use and the lighting. Our clients loved the idea of a sunshelf as well so visitors could sit in a shallow water cove across from the waterfalls and enjoy the experience. We soon realized we were about to embark on the construction of a 1350 square foot, 200 tons of boulder masterpiece.

We worked out our swimming pool and landscaping design and within a matter of weeks. Demolition of the old swimming pool was swift and efficient. The old swimming pool was six hundred and fifty square set as a raised design at twenty inches higher than the adjacent patio. When we ripped out the old pool debris and saw the old gunite swimming pool was shot on top of the exposed ledge rock, we realized why the unusual pool elevation was set the way it was. So it was time to bring in the rock hammer, “no problem, happens from time to time” is what we told our client. We didn’t bargain for the private road entry bridge to the development which was exactly the weight of the machine & hammer, without the truck and trailer! Also, the bridge clearance was exactly four inches wider then the distance of the tracks. We drove the machine across the bridge, over plywood, with men on either side to verify clearance. Needless to say that we, the owners and the adjacent property owners were all relieved when the hammering was behind us.

Weathered Sandstone boulders were selected for the swimming pool waterfalls and surrounding landscape. Boulders were carefully strapped and set into place as to not damage the moss, ferns and lichen present on the stone. Three separate waterfalls were constructed on the swimming pool ledge to create varied effects with water and sound. The largest waterfall is fed by a small stream of cascading boulders, all set within an extended pool shell. Over two hundred and fifty tons of stone were used to create the swimming pool waterfalls and transitional planted boulder landscape slopes. Three 5 hp pumps utilizing six-inch lines were installed to push the 1200 gallons of water over the stone waterfalls. All of the boulders were set within an engineered, steel reinforced gunite pool shell, which doubled as a retaining wall holding back the adjacent slope.

Finishes and details were not overlooked in the process of building this large swimming pool and waterfalls. A one inch by two inch running bond tile mosaic of slate and iridescent glass tiles was installed at the pool waterline and step and shelf banding. Grey Tennessee Crab Orchard was installed as the pool coping and patio with irregular pieces as large as three foot by four foot. Color changing lights were installed in the swimming pool; two in the pool, one at the Sunshelf and one in the spa. Fiber optic spot lights were also installed in and around the waterfalls to create shadows, depth and accents on the stone. An exposed aggregate plaster was installed in the swimming pool to create a sparkle in the water. The icing on the cake was the volcanic fire pit installed between the main waterfall and the oversized spa. Natural gas powered flames rise from a bed of crushed glass and light up the cave created with the natural boulders.

Landscaping and planting work was the last element to finishing this pool project. A mature maple tree was transplanted from on site to create the feeling of the woodland forest coming up to the edge of the mountain pond. Extensive drainage was required on the site. A bio swale with plants and native rock carries the runoff down to a rain garden. A rain garden is a shallow depression in the landscape with well draining soils and vegetation to catch water and filter it back down to the ground water. Lastly, summer flowering plants create a softer edge the large quantities of stone on the project.

Through all the adversities, selections and shear magnitude of constructing the swimming pool and landscaping, the homeowner was left with a beautiful and soundly built project. Not to mention, we had a lot of fun building it!