The Hidden Oasis

Soothing Sanctuary

Designer Cleo Baldon has made a hidden oasis in her own Hollywood Hills, Calif. backyard with a 85-by-22-foot single-lane swimming pool (figure A). Overhead latticework spans the pool, tying the house to the property's edge. Bubbling fountains, stone ledges, a koi pond and lush landscaping (figure B) create a soothing sanctuary that fools the eye into thinking there's more backyard than there really is.

Italian Villa Garden Pool

Designer Michael Glassman shows a second example of a spectacular pool in a small space. It's a pool he designed that was inspired by the great waterworks of a Renaissance Italian villa garden. Located in Sacramento, Calif., the pool and backyard are an example of an amazing use of space. Just slightly longer than 50 feet and barely 30 feet wide, the pool is surrounded by Greek Doric columns and tall Cyprus trees (figure C). A series of Moorish-style spouts pour water into the pool (figure D). In addition, water tumbles over stainless-steel spillways into the pool below from an elevated whirlpool while a double-sided fountain gracefully spills water over both sides. Glassman says this is his favorite of all his pool designs, and it's a real marvel in the face of doubting engineers who said it could never be built.