The Front Yard Pool

When we designed the pool, my intention was a rectangular pool that would reflect the tower of the house.

The palms were chosen to reflect in the pool on the south side.

The house 1 year ago at purchase. Welcome to our jungle.

When we bought the Florida House, the original owners told the neighbors that Canuks had bought the house. Apparently there was a consensus that we were Crazy Canuks after it was revealed that we intended to put a pool in the front yard. They couldn't fathom it. Most had never ventured into the inner front yard. It was a dark, spooky jungle. I am sure they worried about their property values. My own father in law thought I was nuts. But I had a vision the minute I saw this house online, and I contacted the City to see if I could get approval for a front yard pool. The Yard is actually more of a courtyard. We have a 25' front yard on the sidewalk side, and a second 40' yard with a fence dividing it. 

My plan was to make the inner yard more of a courtyard, typical of many Spanish Colonial Revival houses. We changed the wooden stockade fence to wrought iron, and designed a simple, linear rectangular pool that lined up nicely with the "Tower" portion of the house in order to reflect it. On the other side we planted a row of Foxtail palms to reflect in the other end of the pool. The center hot tub lined with Mexican tile recreates the effect of a circular fountain, also typical of a Spanish Colonial courtyard. We manged to use some of the old brick in a pathway from the gate to the sidewalk, but used new pavers in a hexagon pattern on the pool deck that mimic the old Hex Block pavers found all over the historic parts of St. Petersburg, and also in another area of our yard. We curved this away from the front gate so we could block a direct view into the courtyard from the street and we planted many of the gorgeous palms originally removed from the jungle pre-pool construction, and also a Hibiscus hedge to grow up against the fence for privacy and color.

We have had many neighbors drop by to tell us they love it. And they admit they don't think I am crazy any more.

Clearcutting

The house when we bought it. Wooden stockade fence, overgrown pathways.

2 months after purchase we opened up the "compound" by added a wrought iron fence.

Old pavers will form the new pathway from the gate to the street.

Clearly the eaves need cleaning...

I wasn't sure whether to jump for joy or weep yesterday after my jungle of a garden was removed to make way for the pool. I sure felt like we'd clear cut a forest and immediately missed the dense, overgrown Florida garden, but I was also excited to see how large and bright the yard actually is.

Our agent originally bypassed showing us this home because a pool was in our search criteria, and  there is no backyard at this house. When this house was built, the bottom level was the garage and the top an apartment. The "tower", as it is known, is the front right of house and contained the staircase to the apartment. The fireplace is upstairs, in what is now the master bedroom. Behind the house is a parking pad/courtyard that backs onto the alleyway for access.

I fell in love with the inside of this Monterey style house, and was convinced that the yard could be used in an unconventional manner to house a swimming pool in the South facing front yard. Local building codes were on my side and we got approval to do so. There were a few issues with the yard itself. First was the dark and overgrown jungle then the wonky, sunken patios made from antique brick and then there was the wooden stockade fence that made hid the house and made the yard dark and creepy. Sitting in the yard was like being in a compound with no view outside. 

The first thing we did was removed the front fence and replace it with a wrought iron one to let in the light and give us a view. This visually expanded our property. We have another 21 feet of yard between the fence and the sidewalk. In the next few weeks, the pool will be installed and the old brick will be used to create a meandering front path that is offset from the gate. This means we can establish privacy for the pool with creative plantings, as well as make use of our "front" garden on the street side of the fence. Our yard service removed all of the vegetation on one side replanting one foxtail palm on the front (front) yard and, then dug out 2 enormous, over 20 foot palms and replanted  these also on the left side. Once the pool is complete, we will plant a row of bamboo between us and the neighbor, as well as replant the front side of the fence. If my design plan works properly, we will still be able to somewhat see out to the street, and maximize sunshine, but from the street side, you won't be able to see the pool because of the plantings. I am hoping this will give the house more curb appeal and make it look much tidier.

The neighbors are already joking that they will be using the pool while we are gone. I cautioned them to hang their towels on over the security camera first.