Earth, Wind And Fire
A dip in a new backyard pool in Chester is all the more refreshing given the elements that went into creating it.
Landscape design by Miles Kuperus, Farmside Landscape & Design
Pool installation by B&B Pool and Spa
Photography by Farmside Landscape & Design
Text by Kirsten Meehan
It wasn’t hard to see the backyard’s potential. It was largely un – touched, a stretch of grass and a few paved walkways—a perfect blank slate. When the owners moved into their new house in Chester, they imagined a pool for their school-aged children to swim in, combined with a place to sit and entertain. They also knew they wanted some kind of fireplace.
Miles Kuperus of Farmside Landscape & Design in Wantage was brought in to handle the whole landscaping project, and he quickly found that that blank-slate backyard presented special problems. For one, the property included a conservation area that could not be significantly changed. The work would need to be done within very restricted lines.
“The job was tight,” says Kuperus. All the space would have to be used deliberately to bring the project’s full potential to life. Then there were the different levels. First, Kuperus decided to leverage the existing topography to everyone’s advantage. “There was a mid-space in the yard, right off the deck,” he explains. “There was a chance to put the pool in a higher area, and then take advantage of a lower one. I knew I could use that to create something special with a vanishing edge.”
Bagin gave the pool a blue stone coping from National Pool Tile. Though originally designed to be square, the circular spa adds visual interest and echoes the rounded edges of the retaining walls and patio.
He designed that vanishing edge into a waterfall feature, which tumbled into a pergola that contained the firepit the owners had hoped for—and they gave a thumbs-up to the idea. Kuperus and his team worked with the Town of Chester to ensure that the letter of the law was followed—and received the municipal OK. All that was left to do was install it.
Kuperus brought in Derek Bagin and B&B Pool and Spa, based in Chestnut Ridge, N.Y., to handle that installation. “We wanted to squeeze in the largest pool we could, given the size constraints,” says Bagin. “Things got tight towards the house. The hot tub was originally square, but it was changed to a circle shape so there was space between it and the retaining wall.”
The vanishing edge pool tumbles a waterfall feature into a pergola feature with a firepit. The flow of the waterfall can be controlled via a smartphone app. The pergola itself is paved with blue to make it feel like a truly separate space.
Not only did that change save space, it also caused the spa’s shape to echo the curve of the yard’s other retaining walls and circular patio, bringing the yard into further harmony.
The sound of flowing water soothes the whole space, both from the spa into the pool and from the pool’s waterfall feature into the pergola. The waterfall’s flow and the pool’s lights can be controlled via a phone app. “I think being able to actually see water in the pergola area is something really special,” says Kuperus.
Despite the tight squeeze, everything in the design balanced out perfectly, and every one of the items on the homeowners’ wish list was checked: a pool, a space to sit and entertain and a firepit.
Summer color flowers sprout from the tiered retaining walls and, past the fence, the airy, treetop view is breathtaking. Add to that a crackling fire in the pergola, and each element truly has its moment to shine. With the whole nine-month landscaping project wrapping up in August 2022, there was even enough summer left for the family to enjoy it right away. According to Kuperus, the kids couldn’t get into the pool fast enough.
