Facelift For A California Beach Hideaway

By Yvonne English

The existing pool was almost entirely demolished. All of the coping, tile and plaster was removed and the skimmer was relocated. New jets were plumbed to the spa and entry steps with more visual interest were added into the pool. For a Mediterranean flair, pilasters and planting areas were added on either side of the spa. The pool equipment was moved to the rear of the property and hidden with a vine covered stucco masonry wall.

I started Legends in Landscape in 1994. Originally located in Illinois, the harsh winters of the mid west verses the warm weather of California, encouraged me to move my business to Orange County, Calif. in 1999.

I complete all landscape design in-house as a certified landscape designer as well as a licensed California Landscape Contractor. I apply both a design and an engineering mindset to my landscaping creations thanks to my masters in computer science. While I originally enjoyed the challenges of engineering, after several years I decided to better utilize my creativity with a career change towards creating beautiful landscapes. With the support of my staff, we organize, prioritize and control multiple construction projects simultaneously at various stages of design, sales and installation while managing employees and coordinating efforts with subcontractors.

Design Criteria and Guidelines

Legends in Landscape was hired to transform the outdated back yard landscape and pool of a 1960s era Capistrano Beach, Calif., bungalow into a stunning Mediterranean retreat. Our client loved to entertain large numbers of guests frequently, both day and night. She had purchased the home the previous year before work began. After renovating the entire first floor of the inside of her home, she turned outside.

Following our company philosophy, we started this project with a thorough site analysis and a clear understanding of our client’s goals.

The kitchen is completely roofed with a massive patio cover built with 8’x12’ beams and 6’x8’ joists. The difficult part in designing the patio cover was locating the supporting posts over the counter. In order to preserve counter space and not impede on the design, one post was moved near the house with an oversized header that had to be walked under in order to gain access to the rest of the yard.

Existing Site Conditions

• Full sun from sun up to dusk
  
• Free form pool and spa with red brick coping and highly visible, barely functional pool equipment located and controlled next to the pool house.
  
• A small, old covered patio of insufficient size for even a table, let alone the extensive outdoor kitchen our client desired was located near the indoor kitchen.
  
• Pool house with no outdoor bathing area and poor air and traffic circulation.
  
• Raised, grass covered rear yard that was completely under utilized supported by a low stucco retaining wall with red brick wall coping.
  
• Scattered, cracked, old, natural colored, salt finished concrete paving with red brick as trim, but little usable sitting areas.
  
• Decaying wood fencing with unfinished 16” wide masonry block supporting columns approximately 8’ on center.

Client Goals

• Remodel pool and add water feature.
  
• A complete outdoor kitchen with seating for a minimum of six.
  
• Bathroom with shower attached to pool house.
  
• Plenty of usable space for entertaining including outdoor rooms and enclosed, functional space shaded from the sun.
  
• Give a face-lift to the fencing.
  
• Night use.

The client’s goal was to grill outdoors for a large number of guests. Nearest to the home a 12’x12’ outdoor kitchen was built. To accommodate the tall bar stools, the circular seating area of the bar is 42” above the paving level. Appliances were mounted in 36” tall counters around the back walls of the structure. All exterior masonry walls of the kitchen were veneered with El Dorado stone. This large kitchen consists of a 48” Viking grill, dual side burners, a warming drawer, an under counter porcelain sink with hot and cold running water, custom faucets, garbage disposal, refrigerator and sufficient shelving space under the circular bar.

Materials

To create a Mediterranean landscape, stone, iron, and large-scale wood structures were incorporated. The color palette was modified to earth tones. Red brick was eliminated. The hardscape paving became a combination of Arizona buff flagstone and buff colored, stone textured concrete. Buff colored, travertine textured pre-cast caps were used for all pilasters and wall coping. Manufactured stone veneer was added to walls and BBQ. All wood was rough sawn Douglas fir painted a deep brown tone. The house, pool house and other walls were painted a buff color. Custom wrought iron gates were designed for the entrance and exit to the rear yard.

Pool Remodel and Water Feature

The project was centered on the existing pool. As the primary focal point, and to create interest from inside the home and the pool house, we created a water feature with three custom Mediterranean pots that lie on their sides and flow into the pool. After deciding upon the look we wanted to achieve with the water feature, we attempted to locate the pots to create it. None were to be found. As a result we consulted Garden Art International to craft three custom designed 4’ tall pots from a picture we provided.

The pool equipment was moved to the rear of the property and hidden with a vine covered stucco masonry wall. Controlling the pool is now a breeze with the remote control system. Jeff Kerber Pool Plastering installed their Tahoe Blue rock plaster to the pool and spa surface. Verona series tile from National Pool Tile was installed around the water line and spa wall. Veneer was added to the exterior of the spa. Finally, stone coping was added for the finishing touch.

To create a Mediterranean landscape in the yard, stone, iron, and large-scale wood structures were used. The color palette was modified to earth tones and the old red brick was eliminated. Hardscape paving became a combination of Arizona Buff flagstone and buff colored stone textured concrete. Buff colored, travertine textured pre-cast caps were used for all pilasters and wall coping. Manufactured stone veneer was added to walls and BBQ. All wood was rough sawn Douglas fir painted a deep brown tone.

Outdoor Kitchen

Our client’s goal was to grill outdoors for her large number of guests. Nearest to the home we added a 12’x12’ outdoor kitchen. To accommodate her tall bar stools, the circular seating area of the bar is 42” above the paving level. Appliances were mounted in 36” tall counters around the back walls of the structure. All exterior masonry walls of the kitchen were veneered with El Dorado stone.

Seven SPJ brand brass low voltage lights hang half way between the patio cover over the bar and counters. They provide an interesting light source for evening entertainment.

Bath Area with Shower Attached To Pool House

The new bathroom is just a part of the remodeled pool house built by Everett Construction. The original wood sided pool house was stripped to the 2”x4” studs. A new double French door replaced the outdated single entry door. New windows overlook the pool. The entire room was dry walled and painted. Access to the bathroom is only from the raised rear yard up the 8’ wide stairway. Consideration was given to access from within the pool house, but it would have eliminated a great deal of usable wall space in both the house area and the bathroom. The new bath has a custom bowl sink with an antique Mediterranean cabinet. There is a glass block entry wall into the sunken, tiled tub, shower. A Velux brand skylight opens during the warm weather. Floor and shower tile matches the tile on the kitchen countertop.

The project was centered on the existing pool. As the primary focal point and to create interest from both inside the home and the pool house, a water feature was created using three 4’ custom-built Mediterranean pots that lie on their sides and flow into the pool.

Raised Rear Property

While the property had some existing walls behind the pool, they were 5’ behind the pool and had no functionality that met our needs. We removed these walls and replaced them with new curved walls closer to the pool. A 2’x2’ tall stone veneered retaining wall was created that both surrounded the new water feature and provided over 100 sq. ft. of more useable space behind the pool in the rear of the property.

From the stairway one can either sit in the furniture under the patio cover, turn right to a large, sunny sitting area or left to the newly remodeled bath area. The cozy concrete sun patio is furnished with chaise lounges and is surrounded by an array of Mediterranean plants.

A 2’x2’ tall stone veneered retaining wall was created behind the pool. The wall surrounded the new water feature and also provided over 100 sq. ft. of more useable space behind the pool in the rear of the property. To enter the rear area of the yard, a concrete, curved 8’ wide stairway leads between new curved veneered planters up to a stone seating patio.

Wood Fencing

New wood fencing replaces the old, termite infested existing property fence enclosing the entire rear property. Existing unstuccoed, unpainted masonry supports were maintained, but were stuccoed and painted to match the house. Eye-catching 12” long brass lights decorate the masonry columns. Small squared cut from the edges of the light fixtures shoot rays of light in interesting directions on the garden at night.

Night Lighting

The project has substantial low voltage night lighting. Many of the trees and palms are up lit brass spotlights staked into the ground. Lighting surrounds the perimeter, moon lighting is provided by down lights hidden in the wood patio covers, path lights illuminate the dark walks, spotlights accent the water features on the pool and hanging fixtures illuminate the outdoor kitchen. All of these fixtures were provided by SPJ Lighting. Fixtures on both the house and pool house were special ordered from Lumin-8. These lights were manufactured in Germany, by Robers Lighting.