Away From It All, At Home

By Tim Grey, SDG Landscape Architects, Inc. and Erik Skindrud, regional editor

Pool Area Vignettes: The rendered enlargement graphically illustrates the family and master-retreat pool. Paramount to the client, the pools must visually portray a seamless water body but mechanically operate individually.

A Florida client wanted a property transformed into a private resort hidden away from neighbors, complete with a pool suitable for swimming?EUR??,,????'??+without swim suits. That?EUR??,,????'???s what SDG Landscape Architects, Inc. of Naples delivered.

Bears Club refers not to any bruin?EUR??,,????'???s lair but to a street so named in the exclusive community of Jupiter, north of Palm Beach. But a bear, or anyone else for that matter, would be comfortable in this very special and luxurious home nestled in a gated golf course enclave on Florida?EUR??,,????'???s Atlantic coast.

Edgeless Pool: Providing a living bimini, the Phoenix sylvestris plants rim the exterior circumference of the pool. Cascading water rushes over the edgeless beam and buffers off-site sounds.

Following an extensive exterior redesign, this 10,500-square-foot private retreat boasts a texturally lush plant palette, dual-entry aquatic gardens, a glass-mosaic resort style pool, theatrical master-retreat spa and plunge pool backdropped by a privacy-inspired 20-foot-high radiused trellis.

The anonymous client contacted SDG with a specific design request. They made their point succinctly. In short, the client said, ?EUR??,,????'??Design a residential resort.?EUR??,,????'??

Master Retreat Pool, Spa, and Privacy Trellis: A peninsular spa extends into master-retreat pool. With a backdrop of a radiused trellis, this privacy inspired design serves as the primary view from within the master-bedroom retreat.

Creating a ?EUR??,,????'??Residential Resort?EUR??,,????'??

The client came to the design team with no pre-conceived notion of layout or form, only the idea of living amongst an exterior site design that ?EUR??,,????'??lived?EUR??,,????'?? like a resort and not a winter home. They had several specific functional requests and after dictating their requests, they asked the firm to package their ideas into a ?EUR??,,????'??private resort?EUR??,,????'?? so that once they had arrived, they would not dream of leaving for another winter weekend getaway. The client?EUR??,,????'???s specific requests included the following.

The client wanted to have water used as the primary and major element of the exterior experience. They wanted to use water in large bold sweeps. They wanted the water to make a major visual impact as you entered the house and to serve as a backdrop and focal point for all interior views. Specifically, the client wished for two pools and a spa. The two pools must appear visually connected, but for heating purposes be mechanically separated for differing heating levels. The first, the family pool, was to be heated periodically throughout the year, and was for the use of seasonal guests and family. The second, the master-retreat pool, was to be heated to high daily temperatures and delineated so the owners could swim ?EUR??,,????'??au-natural?EUR??,,????'?? and enjoy privacy from adjacent neighbors and nearby golfers.

Privacy Fountain Wall: A limestone clad fountain wall provides integrated structural support for the radiused trellis, while custom fabricated limestone scuppers serve as the primary water source for auditory accompaniment.

The client desired to have an architectural trellis of some sort incorporated somewhere on the property.They simply requested that wherever the team placed their trellis, that it make sense within the context of the resort and provide visual drama from interior views.

The client wanted to have their driveway feel gracious, but not visually burdensome to the elevation of the home. They wanted a driveway that accommodated guest parking, daily deliveries and seasonal entertaining. If applicable, they would love an entry water feature. However, they did not want to overpower the architectural elevation of the home or dominate the visual experience of the entry, but add to the total visual composition.

Nighttime Illuminations: Selected for their vibrancy and visually energizing enhancements, Iridium-glass mosaic tiles clad the entire interior of the pool and portions of the vertical fountain walls.

The client wanted to have their landscape be lush, full and mature. They purchased their 1.15-acre lot and after locating the house only a half-dozen pine trees remained. They wanted an instant ?EUR??,,????'??look?EUR??,,????'?? and a palette that provided privacy from the first day they moved in. They specifically requested that upon move-in day their neighbor?EUR??,,????'???s homes would be removed from their sight. They requested that the privacy gained by the mature plantings come in a vehicle other than a straight vertical clipped hedge. They did not want to feel as if they were living between a pair of manicured hedges.

Lastly, the client wanted to have views out of the house that were paramount. Views of the golf course from within the master retreat, formal dining room, living room, and family gathering room should remain intact and not visually blocked.

Architectural and Planted Privacy Buffer: A living vegetative buffer coupled with vine covered architectural trellis eliminates off-site views of the master retreat pool from adjacent second-story windows.

Implementing the Client?EUR??,,????'???s Vision

As the project landscape architect, SDG?EUR??,,????'???s professional role included developing an exterior site design incorporating the client?EUR??,,????'???s list of personal and individualistic wants and needs. The design collaboration featured continual interaction with the builder, interior designer and architect. Once hired, SDG?EUR??,,????'???s specific duties included conceptual design and graphic imagery, design development, construction drawings, material selections and construction observation for the following sub-projects:

A hand rendered site plan used for initial client communication. The site intent, for this 1.5 acre lot, which had only a half dozen pine trees left after locating the house, shows how mature plantings on three sides would give the property a finished look while providing privacy.

• Site drainage,
• Driveway and motor court,
• Main pool area,
• Master-retreat pool and spa area,
• Master-retreat trellis,
• Entry aquatic gardens and water features,
• Exterior landscape lighting,
• Site irrigation, and
• Overall site landscape design

Arrival Enlargement: The lush overgrown planting adorning the driveway buffer includes yuccas, ferns, bird-of-paradise and temporate-climate tree species. The green belt recedes at the entry to allow for a non-competitive view of the architectural elevation.

The goal throughout the design process was to create a visual and emotional experience that defines resort living at the residential scale. By minimizing materials and championing repeatable visual palettes, SDG, the project?EUR??,,????'???s landscape architect, made the client?EUR??,,????'???s winter resort a place they could more than call home.

Aquatic Fountain: Duelling water gardens clad in slab-form granite anchor the entry sequence and allow the architecture to dominate the visual presentation.

The Bears Club : Project Overview

A single-family estate home located within a gated golf-course community in Jupiter, Fla. This 10,500-square-foot private residence boasts a mature texturally lush plant palette, duelling entry aquatic gardens, a glass-mosaic tiled resort-style pool, theatrical master-retreat spa and a plunge pool back-dropped by a privacy-inspired 20-foot radiused trellis.

Living Room View: Visually extending from the living rooms, the family pool extends to the west of the home out onto the golf course.

Design firm: SDG Landscape Architects, Inc., Naples, Fla.

Project Partners:

Architect
Randall Stofft Architects, Randy Stofft, Delray Beach, Fla.

Builder Lavelle Construction, Cal Lavelle and Ron Palladino, Jupiter, Fla.

Landscape Contractor
Hadden Landscape, Matt Hadden, West Palm Beach, Fla.

Pool and Fountain Contractors The Pool Professionals, Colin Vancampen, Jupiter, Fla.

Peninsular Spa: Polished black Mexican river stone fills the European gutter. The height of fountain wall from within the master-retreat pool eliminates views of ?EUR??,,????'??au-natural?EUR??,,????'?? swimmers from the golfers on the other side.