RAZMATAZ

Although we did check the pool cam off and on during the day yesterday to check on the fill, we were relieved when our neighbor emailed to say he had been over, and yes, there was a proper shut off valve on the end of the hose. And, he even went over later in the day to make sure that valve actually worked. He did notice that although it had stopped filling, the hose was leaking at both ends so he shut the tap off. And he sent a dozen photos.

Real Estate photo

In the historic parts of St. Petersburg, many of the houses are built close to the street with a carriage house/garage with apartment with alley access in the back, and a courtyard/garden sandwiched in between. Having the garage at the back takes up a lot of yard space and we found it hard to find a house in our budget with a pool sized yard. Our agent didn't originally show us this house because it had not backyard for a pool, however the minute I saw this large courtyard with it's Southern exposure, I knew it could accommodate a nicely private pool and garden. We just needed to move the jungle to the other side of the fence. 

Our house was built in 1936 in the Monterey Style from California. It's a mix of Spanish and New England styles, made with cement block walls, a staircase tower, stucco, and a cantilevered upper porch over a shaded lower porch. It has a very deep setback, giving it a front yard on the near side of the iron fence (top picture), a central courtyard, where we put the pool, and a fairly large gated area behind the house that accommodates parking. I love the Spanish influence in this house and I am trying to enhance that part. There is a ton of old terracotta brick on the property and we used some of this to create a pathway from the courtyard to the sidewalk. This was done in a 45 degree herringbone pattern, and curves away from the gate, allowing shrubs to be placed strategically in the front to block all view from the street. It's a very quiet street with little pedestrian or vehicle traffic, but we do want complete privacy. We are going to plant a hibiscus hedge right along the fence that will grow to 6 feet.

Despite all the glitches along the way, I think it looks really nice, although not 100% how I wanted it (there was a mixup with the coping stones uses). I did make sure after the coping error to contact the pool builder to confirm that the interior finish/color was to be exactly what I picked. This is what I picked above. Bluestone with black to give me blue water. Since  a 2" sample is a bit useless, I asked them to send a photo of a filled pool with this finish. This is what they sent.

Pretty blue water to compliment the blue tiles. Exactly the colour I pictured. Confident that the remainder of selections were correct, I was a little surprised to see the pool water (see photo below) is actually nothing like the above photo. It's quite green. I'm not sure at all that this is the same interior finish above and below.