While their designer was careful to set the deck off to one side of the house to avoid blocking Steve’s home office window, then situate the stairs so they’re nearly hidden from view, positioning the pool was by far the most challenging part of the Henseler’s project.
Most clients like the idea of having the pool run parallel to the house. In reality, the trick to pool placement is understanding the movement of the sun. You have to be attentive to where the shadows are and where the shade is going to be, especially in August and September, when the sun is lower in the sky.
Their designer's dedication to this task did not go unnoticed. “He was out there in our back yard a lot watching the sun, “Julie recalls. “And he planned our outdoor room facing west so we could see the sun setting. He really thought about everything.”
In the end, the Henseler's opted to place the pool perpendicular to the house. This not only took advantage of the angle of the sun, it allowed them to make the outdoor room the central part of the overall backyard design. “You don’t want your outdoor room to be too far from the house or you won’t use it as much,” Steve says. “It’s important to think about how indoor and outdoor spaces will work together.”
“It will be great to go out there and wind down at the end of the day,” says Julie, a physician. “And we look forward to sharing our outdoor living space with our friends.”