Designing with Water and Space

How to bring water, nature, beauty and enjoyment into your home.

A Family’s Space for Outdoor Living in Media, PA

Chris Volk worked with the Cilli family to develop a luxury outdoor living space at their home in Media, PA where the focus is water. “When we started looking for an opportunity to spread out,” Darryl Cilli said, “we knew it wouldn’t be easy, but it had to be in Media.” The town they’d called ...

How Modern Art Brought Us Today’s Hottest Pool Designs

Modern style is the hottest design trend in swimming pools and outdoor living spaces. It’s a style with deep roots in Twentieth Century Modern art. You can see how Henri Matisse contributed to the development and spread this modern style in three museum visits: “The Dance” (1933) at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, “The Swimming ...

Plunge Pools and Swim Spas: Luxury Pools Go Small

Make (Less) Room for these Little Pools (plunge pools) that Turn Small Yards into Posh Daily Retreats When The Wall Street Journal announces plunge pools are, “A Chic Swimming Pool Alternative for Small Backyards,” and a week later The New York Times publishes a plunge pool story, “Don’t Call It a Swimming Pool,” you ...

Is Expert Pool Maintenance a Luxury?

Consider these 3 Risks before You Decide Too many people buy an in-ground swimming pool and then treat paying for routine water and pool maintenance as if it were an optional luxury. I’m in the luxury design/build pool business because—let’s face it—all in-ground pools are luxuries. Yet I see too many pool owners treat their ...

5 Steps to Make a Swimming Pool a Luxury Pool

How do you achieve that ultimate value—the luxury pool effect. In previous articles we’ve looked at the well documented benefits—physical, mental, social and spiritual—that water and swimming pools bring into a home. These health benefits—along with the fun, relaxation, and enjoyment—can add up to what I call a “Luxury Pool Effect.” The feel of luxury ...