(c.2004)
Just plain concrete, a pool, nothing interesting. This needed a fix! So, pool remodel, add spa, outdoor fireplace, kitchen, raise three tier fountain so you can see it from the house, upgrade materials… et voilà! Luxurious outdoor rooms and better views from the house!
Lessons
- There’s really very little (or nothing) that can’t be transformed in a landscape. The old design is gone, whatever it was – replaced by a sumptuous outdoor dining area and kitchen, new pool deck, paths and garden spaces.
- Our version of French and the general consensus in Northern California at least, are two vastly different things. The only outdoor fireplaces we see in France are wood burning ovens. Gas grills are not built-in. And pools tend to be fiberglas liners, not plaster over gunite and steel. In short, residential landscapes in France tend to value simplicity and function: simple grills, herbs, vegetables, fruit trees, cut flowers, gravel paths or simple concrete, hedges. They love tall evergreen hedges!
- When someone asks for a French design, we need to ask questions even at the risk of sounding ignorant. French design goes from Versailles to Provence to avant-garde, and currently emphasizes sustainable with insect hotels, pollinator plants, green buildings covered in plants and a lot less formal structure. This is pretty much never what people here think of as “French”!