Vella & Associates

Costa Mesa, Calif.

Cianca Residence
Huntington Beach, Calif.
The project scope was to provide a year-round entertainment and recreational environment for adults and three very active, athletic teenage sons by creating separate areas for simultaneous entertainment. This included a 10' deep 52' pool with rock waterfalls, 6' to 8' high rock ledges for diving, built-in water slide, enough shallow area for water polo, volleyball & swimming laps, a beach entry with umbrella covered 6" deep wet lounge area, 9' diameter spa, elevated seating and dance area with fire bowls mounted on 36" high water weir pilasters, 8'x 3' firepit, covered barbecue seating and cabana, solid cover 'California room' with fireplace and big screen TV, bench seating under existing 50'x50' ficus tree, basketball regulation free throw and Ping-Pong area, large synthetic turf area for volleyball, bocce ball, wrestling and croquet. Plantings incorporated king palms, queen palms, banana palms, pygmy date palms and an assortment of shrubs to provide a lush tropical resort setting.

Cianca Residence
Huntington Beach, Calif.

 
The project scope was to provide a year-round entertainment and recreational environment for adults and three very active, athletic teenage sons by creating separate areas for simultaneous entertainment. This included a 10' deep 52' pool with rock waterfalls, 6' to 8' high rock ledges for diving, built-in water slide, enough shallow area for water polo, volleyball & swimming laps, a beach entry with umbrella covered 6" deep wet lounge area, 9' diameter spa, elevated seating and dance area with fire bowls mounted on 36" high water weir pilasters, 8'x 3' firepit, covered barbecue seating and cabana, solid cover 'California room' with fireplace and big screen TV, bench seating under existing 50'x50' ficus tree, basketball regulation free throw and Ping-Pong area, large synthetic turf area for volleyball, bocce ball, wrestling and croquet. Plantings incorporated king palms, queen palms, banana palms, pygmy date palms and an assortment of shrubs to provide a lush tropical resort setting.

Nelson Residence
San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
V.A. completely redesigned entire property to provide a year-round entertainment and recreational environment for adults, grandkids, extended family and friends. The front yard included an expanded hand cut stone entry, and secluded morning coffee patio. The backyard has a 25-meter competition lap pool with horizon edge, a spa, kiddie pool immediately adjacent spa, multi-level decks and much more.

Rundel Residence
Tustin, Calif.
The challenges on this project were to eliminate maintenance and reduce water use. To do so, the design changed the yard from a semi-tropical look to a semi-desert style xeriscape setting including a rock & boulder dry stream. The existing natural turf was replaced with mounded decomposed granite and synthetic turf. Plant material included echinocactus 'golden barrel cactus', agave Americana, purple lantana, aloe "blue elf', bougainvillea 'oh la la', boutelouva 'blond ambition' and a shoestring acacia tree. The rock stream was specified to have "Sahara gold" 4" to 8" rubble placed over 2" to 3" rubble. The very course jagged rock represents fast-moving, choppy water. The large 1/3-buried boulders are "hickory creek."

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Cianca Residence
Huntington Beach, Calif.
The project scope was to provide a year-round entertainment and recreational environment for adults and three very active, athletic teenage sons by creating separate areas for simultaneous entertainment. This included a 10' deep 52' pool with rock waterfalls, 6' to 8' high rock ledges for diving, built-in water slide, enough shallow area for water polo, volleyball & swimming laps, a beach entry with umbrella covered 6" deep wet lounge area, 9' diameter spa, elevated seating and dance area with fire bowls mounted on 36" high water weir pilasters, 8'x 3' firepit, covered barbecue seating and cabana, solid cover 'California room' with fireplace and big screen TV, bench seating under existing 50'x50' ficus tree, basketball regulation free throw and Ping-Pong area, large synthetic turf area for volleyball, bocce ball, wrestling and croquet. Plantings incorporated king palms, queen palms, banana palms, pygmy date palms and an assortment of shrubs to provide a lush tropical resort setting.

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Cianca Residence
Huntington Beach, Calif.
The project scope was to provide a year-round entertainment and recreational environment for adults and three very active, athletic teenage sons by creating separate areas for simultaneous entertainment. This included a 10' deep 52' pool with rock waterfalls, 6' to 8' high rock ledges for diving, built-in water slide, enough shallow area for water polo, volleyball & swimming laps, a beach entry with umbrella covered 6" deep wet lounge area, 9' diameter spa, elevated seating and dance area with fire bowls mounted on 36" high water weir pilasters, 8'x 3' firepit, covered barbecue seating and cabana, solid cover 'California room' with fireplace and big screen TV, bench seating under existing 50'x50' ficus tree, basketball regulation free throw and Ping-Pong area, large synthetic turf area for volleyball, bocce ball, wrestling and croquet. Plantings incorporated king palms, queen palms, banana palms, pygmy date palms and an assortment of shrubs to provide a lush tropical resort setting.

3 / 4

Nelson Residence
San Juan Capistrano, Calif.
V.A. completely redesigned entire property to provide a year-round entertainment and recreational environment for adults, grandkids, extended family and friends. The front yard included an expanded hand cut stone entry, and secluded morning coffee patio. The backyard has a 25-meter competition lap pool with horizon edge, a spa, kiddie pool immediately adjacent spa, multi-level decks and much more.

4 / 4

Rundel Residence
Tustin, Calif.
The challenges on this project were to eliminate maintenance and reduce water use. To do so, the design changed the yard from a semi-tropical look to a semi-desert style xeriscape setting including a rock & boulder dry stream. The existing natural turf was replaced with mounded decomposed granite and synthetic turf. Plant material included echinocactus 'golden barrel cactus', agave Americana, purple lantana, aloe "blue elf', bougainvillea 'oh la la', boutelouva 'blond ambition' and a shoestring acacia tree. The rock stream was specified to have "Sahara gold" 4" to 8" rubble placed over 2" to 3" rubble. The very course jagged rock represents fast-moving, choppy water. The large 1/3-buried boulders are "hickory creek."

This national award-winning landscape architectural firm has been serving Northern and Southern California areas since 1973. It is a full service, principal oriented firm, consisting of one principal, two registered landscape architects, associates and consultants, in which the RLAs are personally involved in all facets of each project. Full service includes the preliminary conceptual design of a project, preparation of construction documents, and continues through to supervision of the construction phases and monitoring maintenance programs. V.A. values a team approach to large complicated design endeavors and offers as part of its services, biological surveys, environmental impact reports, oak tree health survey, mapping inventory and mitigation, and the design of new wetlands as well as the restoration of existing wetlands affected by the development process. Projects. include commercial plazas, city parks, private parks, recreation centers, multi-family low cost housing, condominium developments, mobile home parks, residential tract developments, private custom residential, industrial parks, and model homes.

As seen in LASN magazine, November 2019.

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