I love, love the water. I love, love design. I often dream about a swimming pool design just for me that fulfills my love of the water and also integrates well with the landscape and the house. I went crazy for infinity pools when they first arrived on the scene, and there are pools below that were built using this design element to great effect.Today I though it would be fun to look at some amazing and beautifully designed pools. This has been a record rainy summer here, so there was not much opportunity to swim, but it is fun to think about spending time in not just the pools, but the locations in which they were built, as many are magical.
What is there to say….pure fantasy……..
Hearst Castle Estate in California.
Gives to meaning to the word swim a lap!
Deceptively simple in design, yet fully integrated into the landscape.
This pool has a floor that rises up and down by hydraulics to either expose or hide the pool water. Notice that the pool appears to extend to the left beyond the archways, but the arches may frame mirrors….I could not find out.
If I were in this pool, I would gaze all day at that view like she is. Can you imagine what it looks like at sunset?
Not a very clear photo, a smaller pool, but the view is amazing.
Truly magical……
One must appreciate the engineering that goes into not just the design, but the building of these pools that cling to hillsides or mountains, on top of buildings or wherever the imagination takes them.
Amazingly integrated such that it is, at first glance, it is hard to see there is actually a pool. The shadow line along the curve of the pools edge mimics the wave out in the ocean.
Oh, I could spend some time here wading and dreaming.
Simple, elegant, powerful.
This is in Greece , Santorini I believe, and it speaks serenity.
Another built into a cliffside.
Brilliant use of stone along the pool wall to shadow the mountain top.
This photo I added to show you how tall the wall is in the upper pool. The same pool is below, but the photo was from a different perspective. You can also get an idea of the size of the pool by looking at the swimmer at the edge of the upper pool.
Same pool as above.
This is an amazing pool. Incredible is the only way to describe it. It is obvious that it is high up, yet there is no retaining or safety wall at all.
One person has this all to himself!
What will a pool designer think of next? This suspended pool with glass walls is a marvel.
Ocean waves lapping or crashing against this pool, almost like being in the ocean…..
Another pool adjacent to the ocean, but seemingly carved from the same cliffs it sits on.
I couldn’t make up my mind about this pool. On one hand it is a true extension of the ground surface, and yet from this view, I found it a bit ethereal bordering on creepy.
Total serenity…….
What a way to swim…….with the view rewarding you at every lap!
This is the deepest pool in the world.
The waterfalls definitely make this pool.
this pool is in Mambai, India. I can’t find the photo that shows the entire building, but it is very tall! I am not so sure I would trust the walls to hold long term!
Amazing isn’t it? Notice how there are gardens across each wing like the pool, and another huge pool on the ground.
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I enjoyed my Himalayan salt bath in the Jacuzzi last night, but this!!!! Oh, see now I am going to have to move to Greece! (JK) Wow!! Really makes my mind soar! These are dazzling! LOVE the waterfall pic near the end. Reminds me of the smaller Grove Park Inn pool with falls. So many of these are spectacular. I love my world travels on your website! I am sooo glad to be reading your shout out to the benefits of drinking lots of water.
This is my personal soapbox. I drink lots of the healing liquid myself. A bottle of water can change how you feel in an instant!!! Now if I can just get in the habit of swimming several times a week……. A good friend of ours in Florida swims consistently. She is my age, 57. I have no excuse 🙂
Thanks again, Charisse. I always look forward to your cyber surprises just before I turn in for the night…. at 2 or 3am usually, after working in the operating room until 11pm.
Thanks Victoria. I am also a water drinker….I have always been fortunate to have wonderful water on our land. In one place, it was spring water and so cold and good. I rarely drink anything else except iced green sun tea in the summer.