The exterior of the pool house finished; we have one small problem, the wet summer combined with repeated foot traffic, has created a muddy mess. So, we decided to move forward with landscaping rather than completing the interior. We didn’t want to finish the interior only to be walking through mud to get from the pool to the cabana.
Now the issue – the pool and hardscaping was built 10 years ago. How do we tie the new to the old? How far do we extend the patio off the existing pool deck, with what material, all while having it look like it was original to the pool installation? The cabana was constructed on an angle in what was grass in the rear corner of the pool area. In addition, adjacent to the concrete decking was a 50′ x 10′ strip of grass which ran between the concrete deck and the fence. This was a maintenance headache because a hand mower had to be brought inside the fenceline on a weekly basis and created grass clippings, which always found its way onto the pool deck as well as in the pool. In addition, when the grass was wet, any heavy traffic would create muddy areas which would also be dragged onto the pooldeck. There was also a holly bush which would continually drop spiky leaves onto the pool deck further causing a maintenance headache… and it felt like you stepped on a needle whenever you stepped on one.
My solution – 1.extend and level the bed where the holly bush was and extend an existing EP Henry wall to prevent leaves from dropping onto the pool deck. This new wall/bed would run behind an existing gazebo seating area and provide further ambience in the evenings with led lights. 2. run EP Henry paver patio from the extended bed and pool decking along the fence line, around the cabana. We choose the same pavers, which were originally used in the pool installation and are used in the entry way leading into the pool area. 3. bring in 1/2 yard river rocks to create a river rock base along the right rear of the cabana for exterior storage of pool toys and floats. To further add to the design element we mirrored the arches and angles from the pool in the design of the walls and paver patio/river rock areas (see photos).
We turned an unused “nice” but visually unattractive area into a functional, beautiful addition to our backyard. We knew we did it right when our neighbors asked, “what was here before?” Next, the interior.
