Marble, She Said

Design by Exclusive Stoneworks/ Unique Pools & Spas
Photography by Jaye Avery Photography
Text by Donna Rolando

As a pro interior designer, Adria Avallone had seen enough to know what she wanted—and what she didn’t want—in her family’s own outdoor entertainment project. She and her husband Anthony Dertouzos had almost limitless options, as they were starting fresh in a new, six-bedroom custom home they had built through Brooks Builders of Franklin Lakes. Steering clear of today’s popular bluestone hardscape, Avallone says she “had a very specific vision in mind and I wanted it to be very modern”—marble modern.

Completed in 2025, the multi-tiered outdoor space with a turquoise-toned Gunite pool abounds in sandblasted marble patios and pavers in a refreshing, light hue—in contrast to bluestone’s grayish tones. In marble, they found a clean complement for what she describes as a modern, English country house with European flair.

Boxwoods and hydrangeas frame the house, softening the marble hardscape.

Guided by that vision, Exclusive Stoneworks completed “a great entertaining space,” she says, where family—including their 4-year-old son at home and her three twentysomething stepchildren on visits—can sun, splash and socialize.

“We’ve only had one summer there so far, but we’re very much anticipating this summer,” Avallone says. “We feel like we’re at a hotel back there. It really feels amazing, elegant.”

Polished plaster is the secret of this pool’s turquoise tone, which homeowner Adria Avallone adores.

Rich Andreu, president of Exclusive Stoneworks and Unique Pools & Spas in Lyndhurst, was hired through Brooks Builders to take Avallone’s landscape plan to reality, starting with all the exterior brick and stonework. “We built the pool,” Andreu recalls. “We built the hardscape. We built the landscape. We did everything on the property.”

The clean, modern look extends to the Gunite pool with polished plaster for a glossy finish, color-changing lighting and nearby sundeck. “The pool came out perfect, exactly how I wanted it,” says Avallone, enthralled with the plaster-walled turquoise waters. Although the couple’s 4-year-old son already knows how to swim, a motorized cover (blended with its tranquil surroundings) adds to their peace of mind, while controlling heating costs.

The multi-tiered layout offers at its highest elevation the outdoor kitchen, while closer to the pool, another gathering spot pops with fire and water elements.

There were challenges along the way. Andreu says the project required excavating “the entire backyard” and removing nine loads of boulders from the pool area.

But today, with marble as a common thread, the outdoor living area is, in Avallone’s words, “great for parties.” It features a courtyard in the middle of the layout, which she designed to make best use of available space. At the highest elevation and near the home for convenience is the outdoor kitchen with a black aluminum dining table by Eichholtz, joined by all-weather, basketweave and aluminum chairs from Summer Classics.

The outdoor kitchen built out of blended veneer stone (Eden-Valders) takes a style clue from the home’s exterior.

The kitchen’s serious side is a 42-inch XO grill with two refrigerators and built-in trash receptables. Its beauty is in the stone veneer sourced from the Midwest through Braen Stone and matching the house, while the countertops share the patio’s sandblasted marble.

Closer to the pool on its own separate patio, fire and water create a dramatic gathering area. “We love roasting marshmallows in the firepit and listening to the water feature,” says Avallone.

A multi-hued waterfall and a powerful fire table create a special ambiance for marshmallow roasting.

A brass-burner fire table with 300,000 BTUs by Warming Trends “gives off a lot of heat,” says Andreu. Built into a raised stone-veneer planter, the waterfall has a sheer descent that creates a kaleidoscope effect, which one may enjoy on the swinging chair by Terrain.

Besides charcoal-toned Catalina chaise longues with cast-stone side tables both by Summer Classics, the pool area offers a sundeck in the shallows, and all the furniture reflects the home’s exterior, “so everything feels cohesive and intentional,” Avallone explains.

An English garden in the making, this six-bedroom, modern, European-style home is adorned with boxwood hedges and hydrangeas.

No mere afterthought, the yard’s illumination is as much about beauty as it is safety. It includes strips on all the steps to the patios as well as uplighting for trees and lighting around the planting beds.

“I had a lot of details I wanted to include,” says Avallone, anticipating a full summer of fun in their new outdoor space.

“It all added up to the final picture, which was unbelievable.”