Infinity pools
5. Eco-Friendly Pool in Italy Location: Scena, Bolzano province, Italy Who swims here: A young couple Architect: Manuel Benedikter in partnership with Daniela Wendlandt This natural pool adjoins a contemporary home built with sustainability in mind in the mountains of northern Italy. The pool needs no chemicals or mechanical systems to keep its water clear. The purification is done by a system of tanks filled with sand and plants that filter the water. The pool is made of raw concrete and the deck is of larch wood, which came from a forest owned by the homeowners. The pool marks the boundary of the property and overlooks the Gruppo di Tessa mountains in the Alto Adige region near the Austrian border. See more of this project
4. Italian Style in the United States Location: Cordillera, Colorado, United States Who swims here: A family, for whom this is a primary residence Architect: Andre Pierce of Pierce + Frye Architects When building a vacation house in Italy didn’t work out for these homeowners, they turned instead to 100 acres (40.47 hectares) they owned in the Rocky Mountains west of Denver. Here they spent two years building what architect Andre Pierce describes as a “re-created Italian village on a mountaintop.” Two 2,000-square-foot (185-square-meter) guest houses connect by tunnel to the 10,000-square-foot (929-square-meter) main house, which is filled with antique furniture and reclaimed materials the homeowners purchased in Italy. A garden path leads up from the house to this picturesque mountaintop pool with decking made of local stone. From here, the peak of New York Mountain can be seen jutting up in jaw-dropping fashion. Not a bad view for a lap pool 7,000 feet (2,134 meters) above sea level.
Location: Var region, southern Provence, France Who swims here: A Parisian couple who vacation here with their 2 children Architect: Frédérique Pyra This idyllic swimming pool in southeastern France seems to flow right into the sea. In fact, you can access the beach from here, thanks to a small door near the pool. The pool area is at the end of a long, narrow, sloping lot, with a three-level house at the top. Architect Frédérique Pyra designed the contemporary house in neutral colors using natural materials. “I imagined a three-story half-buried house, stretching out as a linear progression toward the sea,” Pyra says. “The swimming pool is at the end of the architectural composition.”
6. Texas Barbecue and Good Times Location: Austin, Texas, United States Who swims here: Traci Cavender Architect: Murray Legge As the daughter of James Cavender, who founded the Cavender’s Boot City chain of western clothing stores, Traci Cavender knows a thing or two about the great outdoors. So when it came to designing her backyard pool amid the rambling, steep hills of Austin, Texas, she tapped architect Murray Legge to create something special. Traci wanted not only a place to swim, but also room for gardening, cooking and throwing parties. This was a tall order for such a steep site, but Legge responded with a terraced design that incorporates a zero-edge pool and a pool house with a kitchen and rooftop garden. There’s also an outdoor lounge area with a fireplace. Lueders limestone surrounds the pool. A large slab of granite creates a swim-up bar in the pool with built-in seating for three that allows Traci to cook meals, walk a few steps from the pool house and serve food to guests in the pool. See more of this pool
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