Backyard Paradise
The new Alpine home already had a builtin pool. Then the landscape designer gave it palm trees, a dramatic fire feature and the feel of a luxe tropical resort.
Design by SJ Pools & Landscaping
Photography by DSAL Productions
Text by Donna Rolando
With a salt-water Gunite pool and hot tub provided by the builder, a new Alpine home’s backyard never sang the blues. But neither did it hit a high note for entertaining—a passion for the homeowners, a couple with two children. In fact, owners Jennifer and Pat considered the backyard of the six-bedroom modern farmhouse they purchased in 2024, in her words, a “blank canvas,” waiting to be molded to their tastes.
“It needed to be elevated,” she says—and she means aesthetically, not topographically. “It really wasn’t what we wanted our backyard to look like.” Not only was the swimming area visible from the road, compromising privacy, but patio space for poolside lounging was also scarce and the outdoor kitchen too bare-bones for these barbecue connoisseurs.
Not long after moving to Alpine, the couple called upon a landscape designer already familiar with the one-acre lot to personalize their standard builder’s backyard. Welington Gomes, owner of SJ Pools & Landscaping in Oradell, had created the rectangular pool and raised spa for Palisades Park builder Alliotts Enterprises in 2023. He returned to fill in that “blank canvas” with conversation zones: the graveled firepit area, expanded bluestone-look patios and, yes, a bigger and better outdoor kitchen on a bluestone-and-marble patio by Marmiro Stones, all completed in 2025.
Jennifer praises that outdoor kitchen for not only the charcoal perfection of a Brazilian grill but also its connection to guests, who can gather at the table or the neolith-stone-topped counter. The kitchen’s new U-shape gets a chef ’s kiss for accommodating two grills, a trash receptacle, wood storage and a sink in its stone-veneer structure. “It all works great, and we enjoy it,” says Jennifer.
Cloaked by evergreens and fencing, this tropical-style backyard now serves as a true oasis, from the eight-jet hot tub to the fire-and-water vases and the comfort of loungers like a Perigold daybed—great for tanning. Homeowner Jennifer approves of the palm trees now towering over the firepit area. “It really makes it more magical, like you’re not even in New Jersey.”
As he designed the grounds, Gomes was mindful that the couple had savored scenic Hudson River views at their former home in New York City’s Riverdale. He homed in on visuals with poolside drama from fire and water vases from Archpot, which he credits with “great sound effects to help you relax.” Palm trees in New Jersey, an epiphany that came to him on a Miami vacation, create a tropical vibe while keeping company with a variety of plantings from hydrangeas to crape myrtles and large evergreens, which team up with fencing for privacy.
“Our home in the summer is the go-to house, which we love,” says Jennifer. But the couple isn’t done yet. Next up will be a heated pergola for summers that never end.
