The pool house that changed the afternoon

The pool was already there. What needed attention was the landscape around it: cracked surfaces, aging infrastructure and too little support for the way the owners wanted to entertain. DiSabatino's Centerville renovation makes a case for improving the edges of an existing amenity rather than replacing the amenity itself.

The team repaired stone walls, replaced the patio with wet-laid travertine and built a pool house with terraces on either side. The new building gives the far end of the water a clear destination, visible from the length of the pool.

A kitchen with two audiences

Inside, the pool house has a seating area and a custom kitchen. Wide windows above the granite counter open to an exterior bar, allowing the same work surface to serve people outdoors. Stools sit immediately below the opening; a tall dining table occupies the adjacent terrace.

That arrangement reduces the separation between the person preparing food and the people beside the pool. It also gives the outdoor seating a practical relationship to the building, rather than placing furniture around it as an afterthought.

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The kitchen serves both the indoor room and the pool terrace. · DiSabatino Landscaping

Shelter beside open space

Broad glass doors face the water. When viewed from outside, they make the interior seating part of the poolside scene; from inside, the pool remains the room's main outlook. The pergolas on the flanking terraces provide a lighter kind of enclosure than the central roof.

At the opposite end of the pool, a woodburning fireplace creates another gathering point. Stone walls, privacy fencing and planting define the perimeter, while lighting extends the use of the setting into the evening.

The project retains the simple pleasure of a long pool and a row of loungers. Its improvement lies in what happens before and after a swim: a place to get out of the weather, a counter for food, a table for a meal and somewhere to sit as the light changes.