Our clients were in love with the new home they had purchased, a sprawling estate in the Old Stockdale neighborhood of Bakersfield, CA. However, there were definitely some major changes they wanted to make to the landscape design. The property itself was very unique due to the fact that there was basically no backyard. The majority of the property’s footprint was encompassed by the long & expansive approach towards the home. The main front entry had been converted, by the previous owner, into a huge outdoor kitchen patio space. The outdoor kitchen dominated the landscape, & our clients were not huge fans of outdoor cooking. Our clients had quite a different idea for this space: a resort-style swimming pool & spa directly outside their front door! We loved the idea & set out immediately to create their private oasis.
We began the massive overhaul to this property by completely demolishing the outdated, outdoor kitchen space. Now that we had a clean slate for our construction space, we began to create our resort-style swimming pool. The home had a rich, classical architecture that we wanted reflected in our swimming pool design. We created a linear swimming pool design & elevated the spa to create additional outdoor seating. We made specific selections for materials to ensure that we were complimenting the style of the residence. We used a custom, concrete pre-cast coping that beautifully complimented the home’s stucco colors. Also, we used an Ashlar slate stamp for our concrete decking. This gives the pool deck the look & feel of natural stone pavers. We opted for a darker color for the stamped concrete decking to off-set the light tones of the coping & stucco work. We continued this theme by selected a darker, blue tile for within the swimming pool & the raised spa.
Next, we wanted to create a water feature that would blend beautifully with the new swimming pool design. We designed fountain jets that would create a stunning arch over the pool itself & would be dramatic enough to be visible as you approached the property. The fountain jets would also give us enough sound to muffle the traffic noise from nearby Stockdale Highway. A final touch to the pool itself was the integration of beautiful LED lights so that the pool could give off a dynamic glow in the evening hours.
Since our clients’ pool was in the front landscape, we needed to safely enclose the pool to ensure that it met all relevant building codes. We did not want to destroy the beautiful visual of the swimming pool by imprisoning it with a pool-guard fence so we created a much more appropriate design solution. We constructed a beautiful stucco wall, that was off-set with a darker stacked stone at its columns to create a privacy wall for the swimming pool space. Atop the columns, we used a pre-cast concrete cap that matched our swimming pool & spa coping. At the main entry to this private space, we added a beautiful wrought iron gate.
Along with the massive pool project, we had our hands full with the updating of the existing landscape. The property itself was blessed with decades old trees that towered above the landscape & gave the whole property a grand feel. Gigantic Redwoods, Eucalyptus, & Arbutus ‘Marina’ were already strong focal points within the landscape. Our clients wanted a simple but beautiful planting palette that would be more texture than color. We focused on three main varieties of plantings for the field space: Leriope Muscari, Asparagus Fern, & Star Jasmine. These varieties would offer varying green tones & beautifully contrasted textures. The fields of Star Jasmine would give the entire landscape a heavenly aroma during the bloom season & our Leriope’s would give a simple touch of purple to off-set the green.
Next, we tackled making sure that this estate garden looked just as beautiful after-hours as it did in the full-sun. We installed dozens of LED landscape lights to illuminate the specimen trees & beautiful architecture of the home. The previous owner had old halogen lights that were taxing on our clients’ energy bill & required constant changing of bulbs. Now our clients were using a fraction of the electricity & giving their landscape the dramatic glow it deserved.
Now, our clients have swimming pool & landscape design that would be at home at any 5-star resort. Luckily, they only have to walk outside their front door to check in!
Since 1953, Monji Landscape Companies has been a leader in landscape design, landscape construction, & landscape maintenance.
