Building a pool is just the beginning of elaborate backyard transformations

By Deborah K. Dietsch June 20

Splish, splash. Water spills down a curving fiberglass slide into the swimming pool built by Tracy and Clint Heiden behind their McLean home. The pool forms the centerpiece of a $1million backyard transformation, changing an unusable hillside into an outdoor living area offering indoor-style conveniences.

At one end of the yard, a metal-roofed pavilion shelters a comfortable seating area centered on a limestone fireplace and 60-inch flat-panel TV. A barbecue grill, sink and refrigerator drawers set below granite countertops provide an outdoor kitchen.

Next to the pool are more features for the Heidens, their four children and friends to enjoy.

Built into the flagstone patio are a glass mosaic-tiled spa and a gas-fueled fire pit. Umbrella-shaded tables, chairs and chaises provide places to dine and relax.

Before we had the pool and landscaping, we spent all our time in our kitchen and family room, says Tracy Heiden, 45, an advertising executive. Now we spend about six to nine months out here relaxing and entertaining. This outdoor space doubled the size of our house.

As evident from this back yard and others in the Washington area, pools have become more than utilitarian places for swimming and cooling off. People spend more time around the pool than in the water, so the design of the surroundings is important, says Don Gwiz, principal of Lewis Aquatech, a pool builder in Chantilly.

A pool often acts as a springboard to a backyard landscape filled with complementary amenities.

We have more requests for structures around the pool small pool houses, pergolas, outdoor kitchens and bathrooms, fire bowls, sculpture, says Walt Williams, co-owner of Alpine Pool in Annandale, who designed and built the Heidens pool and pavilion. The area around the pool is getting more detailed and elaborate.

At the same time, the in-ground basin for the water is getting simpler. Whats becoming popular is a contemporary design, mostly geometric with very crisp lines, says Williams.

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Building a pool is just the beginning of elaborate backyard transformations