The owners of a Woodbine, Maryland, property tapped D.A. Dunlevy to revamp their sloped backyard. “They wanted a conversation-piece pool and space for entertaining,” recounts principal D. Blake Dunlevy. “When we presented options, they were taken by the idea of a container pool.”
Traditionally used for overseas shipping, sea containers have become popular as vessels for residential swimming pools. Dunlevy tucked this one into the yard’s slope, surrounding it on three sides with an ipe deck. At the bottom of the slope, the exposed fourth side boasts an underwater viewing window.

The container pool met the clients’ aesthetic vision. “They wanted to integrate their modern taste with the farmhouse environment,” Dunlevy explains. “The pool has an industrial-modern feel.” A fire pit creates an additional gathering spot.

EXPERT INSIGHTS
Notes from D. Blake Dunlevy

• A container pool has the strength of a below-ground pool and the flexibility of an above-ground pool, with all systems in an internal compartment.
• Travertine is an easy, go-to pool-area surface for its look and feel. It is soft and elegant in a way that few other materials can match.
• Cocktail pools are everything. Small urban settings are no longer off-limits; we have been putting pools in every conceivable setting.

Landscape Architecture & Contracting: D. Blake Dunlevy, PLA, D.A. Dunlevy, Poolesville, Maryland.