A large brick house, an acre of land and a heavily wooded site were the basic elements that designers at Town Creek confronted when they were called in to fashion an outdoor entertaining area with a swimming pool in Howard County, Maryland. According to Bob Haney, Town Creek’s president, the clients “wanted a balance between having enough open spaces for large groups of people while still having smaller, more private areas for six or fewer.”
Town Creek’s designers solved the problem by recessing the pool into a gentle hill and installing a large patio between the pool and the house. Rustic stone walls at the edge of the pool divide the space and create a transition to the lower pool level. A pool deck constructed of brick-colored pavers with a bluestone edge ties the house and pool area together.
Smaller, intimate garden areas were carved out between the patio and the woods along a garden path. Plantings of shade-loving perennials created a link with the woods, and masses of sun-loving ornamental grasses and flowering perennials surround the pool. Catmint, daylilies, irises, purple sage and black-eyed Susans spill over a raised pool edge and the bright, colors and varied textures create a majestic backdrop.
