Photo by Michael Woodall

GETTING THE LOOK:
1. Desert landscaping  2. Water feature with a trio of portals  3. Pot ledge 4. Stacked-flagstone spa with waterfall edge  5. Kirk Bianchi calls the pool a “hybrid” style, for it is both geometric and organic in shape.  6. Sunning “shelf”  7. Boulder outcropping

Pool designer Kirk Bianchi turned this narrow Arizona backyard into an oasis worthy of its beautiful views. By installing the pool before the house was built, he took advantage of a planned exterior stone wall to create a unique water feature and spa (background). Bianchi, a Phoenix Home & Garden Master of the Southwest, “punched” three square openings into the wall. These “portals” are lined with copper and act as spillways for sheer curtains of water to enter the spa. Adding further visual interest, water that cascades over the spa’s stacked-flagstone surface and into the pool takes on a shimmery look.