One of the most rewarding aspects of residential water design is the ability to discover hidden features that may normally go unnoticed. In order to optimize the features of the site, it is important for designers to remain flexible in the design process. If you can maintain an open mind when designing, you may uncover a site feature that will exceed a homeowner?EUR??,,????'???s expectations. Recently, my company completed a renovation for a project located in California. What follows is a chronicle of this very special project: 1 & 2: Welcome to the brick patio outside the kitchen door. Despite its proximity to the kitchen, this area didn?EUR??,,????'???t even rate in the top 10 list of important areas for landscape renovation at this project. Sure, the uneven brick patio area could be reconfigured and the rather ungainly pond shape could be scaled back, but the fountain worked, so this part of the project just wasn?EUR??,,????'???t a priority for the homeowner. 3: Odd-shaped pond and water feature before clean-up. Though the fountain was visible from the dining room window, the abundance of ferns and tropical foliage covered up all problems except for the strange shape of the pond. 4: Our little brick fountain/pond is a giant four-tiered Goliath. With a foliage clean-up complete, we find ourselves confronted with an enormous, unmatched brick, poorly conceived fountain. And the pond still has a very strange shape. Re-working the fountain and adjacent brick patio rockets to the top of the priority list, as this entire monstrosity is visible through the dining room windows every time the front door is opened to visitors. 5: Reshaped and deepened pond with thoroughseal on brick face before tiling. Work begins in earnest. The loud, ineffective pond equipment pump is updated and relocated to an adjacent shed, out of sight and earshot of the patio. The second tier of the fountain is plumbed to cascade water. The single-brick "bridges" spanning the fountain (presumably to collect leaves from the towering Ficus benjamina trees) were removed, and the entire face of the fountain is covered in Thoroughseal in preparation for tiling. We added an automatic water inflow valve so the pond would fill automatically in summer when evaporation can drop the pond water level as much as an inch or two per day. Next we plumbed the third tier of the fountain and made the pond bowl deeper in order to accommodate fish and water lilies in an area notorious for the exploits of raccoons. The shape of the pond was made more symmetrical and narrow, as the height of the lip itself was raised to a comfortable 18" bench height. The pond edge now added to the possible seating arrangements on the patio area, and the new shape didn?EUR??,,????'???t overwhelm the whole dining area. Rectangular green and teal pool tiles were selected for their minor shape and color variations. The face of the fountain is covered in tile, as are the "bowls" of each tier. 6: The custom removable galvanized steel grille is installed to keep out children and raccoons. The first time we filled up the pond after the tiling was complete, the homeowners were awestruck at the metamorphosis. However, it soon became apparent that the sound of water brought not only a host of birds but also curious children to the edge of the pond. We quickly designed a removable decorative grille to cover the pond in case a child decided to climb the fountain or lean over too far to feed the fish. The grille was hot-dipped in galvanizing steel and has mellowed to a dull gray. Benches with the same watery pattern as the grille were made for additional patio seating. 7, 8 & 9: The completed fountain with restored kitchen patio. Filled with hardy water lilies, a host of goldfish, and shimmering night lighting from within the pond and moonlight from the trees above, this once forgotten water feature eyesore has been romanced into a delight and transformed a small, overlooked patio into a main dining and entertainment room. The water feature is a great example of how a hidden treasure can become an interesting focal point in the landscape.