Backyard Resorts
When landscape architect Scott Redmon unfurls the plans for the backyard he's designing at an estate in the exclusive south Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County community of Isleworth, his eyes sparkle and a grin spreads across his face. As he points to the blueprints that cover a conference table at his Maitland office, the 45-year-old owner of Redmon Design Company is a kid again, struggling to stifle a giggle of glee as he discusses his handiwork.
"This place is just going to be so much fun," says Redmon as he points out the plan's highlights. "It's going to have all kinds of water elements-streams, waterfalls, cascades. There's a putting green with a chipping area. And over here, there's a sports court. The children in the family really love to play music, so we're having part of it painted to look like a giant keyboard. How cool is that?"
By the looks of what's blossoming in some Central Florida backyards, it's all very cool indeed.
While many homeowners are perfectly satisfied with a traditional swimming pool in the backyard, a basketball hoop in the driveway and Dad's vintage barbeque grill on the porch, others are creating mini-resorts.
The pool? It's replaced by a sprawling lagoon with grottoes and bridges and a state-of-the-art sound system that allows you to listen to music while you're underwater.
The basketball hoop? It's evolved into a sports court with a body-friendly surface that can be used for everything from tennis to volleyball.
And the ol' barbecue grill? That rusty relic has been rendered obsolete by an outdoor culinary center that includes its own Japanese-steakhouse-style table where you can watch your dinner sizzle on a stainless steel surface.
According to designers and builders, it's all part of a larger trend that reflects not only the growing affluence of some homeowners but also a desire to extend the "cocooning" craze of the 1990s out of the living room and into the great outdoors-while still sticking close to home.
"Some people can afford to go out and buy 10,000-acre ranches in Montana where they've got mountain ranges and trout streams and equestrian stables on their property," says Elaine Deidlemeyer with Anders-Gwynn Associates, a San Francisco-based firm that studies homebuilding trends. "But for those who don't want to go to that extreme, there's the very attractive option of creating some of those same recreational elements in the backyard. You can build a climbing wall. You can build and stock a pond for fishing. It comes down to this: How big is your backyard, and how much money do you have?"
Jim Lucia, vice president of the Winter Park design firm Lucia, Kassick and Monday, has noted the trend among a growing number of his clients.
"They tell us they want their backyards to have the look and feel of a five-star resort," says Lucia. "These are people who typically have lots of friends and enjoy entertaining on a regular basis. They want to live life at home to the max, especially as it relates to enjoying the water and enjoying good food."
Consequently, Lucia says, his firm has seen a surge in the popularity of large hot tubs-those that can be used by upwards of 20 to 30 people-as well as wood-fired pizza ovens that can be used in the backyard.
Typical of the trend, says Lucia, is an Orlando couple with a 1930s-era, two-story shingle-style home on Lake Highland.
"They love the location and wanted to transform it into a place that fully utilizes the water and the outdoor livability," Lucia says. "Problem is, the lot is long and narrow, only about 50 feet wide."
The solution: a multi-terraced approach with water flowing from a main pool and cascading down four levels until it reaches a smaller plunge pool on the dock. There's also a lounge with a wood deck and an exercise room. And since the home sits on a north-south axis, Lucia added trellises to help provide shade and extend the deck's use on hot summer afternoons.
"Here in Florida there's the potential for year-round backyard enjoyment," says Lucia. "So you have to figure in everything from the direction of sunlight and the potential for rain to the prevailing breezes from season to season."
The move towards backyards with plenty of bells and whistles got its start years ago with the advent of personal putting greens. But with advances in synthetic grass, today's backyard putting greens are a far cry from those earlier versions, says Michael Dutton of the Orlando firm Golf Greens Fore You.
"If you came to me and said you wanted to duplicate the green at No. 7 in Augusta, then I could offer you a fairly amazing rendition in your backyard," says Dutton.
The average 500- to 600-square-foot putting green, says Dutton, runs about $10,000. Most of Dutton's clients live in golf course communities and want something that melds with the surrounding greens and fairways.
"Years ago, this was a problem because the artificial grass just looked so artificial. It was gaudy and out of place," adds Dutton. "But some of the synthetic turf that's out there now looks so close to the real stuff that it's hard to tell it apart. It fits right in with the whole landscape design and gives the surface an altogether natural feel."
The quality of synthetic fibers has reached such an advanced state, Dutton says, that he can create greens that will meet specific ratings on the "Stimp meter" used by golf courses to judge the speed of their greens, with 5-7 being a "slow" green, 8-10 being a "medium" green and anything over 11 being a "fast" green.
"It can be a very social and relaxing thing just to step outside onto the putting green with a cocktail and some friends," says Dutton. "They don't even have to be golfers. Everyone has fun giving it whirl."
Dutton recently finished a project with Paul Verlander Landscape Architects at a home in Isleworth that incorporated a putting green in a sprawling backyard overlooking Lake Louise. The owners specified that they wanted their custom 55-foot-long pool lagoon to be reminiscent of the rocky coast of Maine and the South Pacific, where they maintain business connections.
"It was a pretty wild order, but we pulled it off and it all came together," Verlander says. "We ordered big granite boulders from Maine to give part of it that northeastern feel and Phillipine limestone and lots of lush, tropical plantings to give it a sense of Tahiti. Now we're trying to figure out a way to work in a koi pond with all of that."
Area landscape designers have grown accustomed to some fairly wild orders, thanks largely to Orlando's community of well-heeled professional athletes, coaches and musicians.
For example, Joey Fatone, of the group 'N Sync wanted a mini "Wet 'n Wild" designed around his grotto pool area, complete with a 40-foot enclosed waterslide and a cave containing a plasma TV. Former University of South Carolina head football coach Lou Holtz wanted a golf driving cage and baseball's Ken Griffey Jr. wanted a batting cage.
In addition, many local homeowners who aren't professional athletes are calling on contractors like Sports Court of Central Florida to create backyards that cater to a multitude of recreational preferences.
"We turn backyards into full-scale, high-end recreational centers," says Bruce Gentilella, owner of Sports Court, which installs special tiled playing surfaces that are designed to help avoid abrasions and stress fractures. "The kids don't get hurt and the adults find they can play longer without wearing out."
Prices for a Sports Court range from about $9,000 for a 25-by-28-foot surface to more than $60,000 for a 120-by-60-foot court that can be used for full-court basketball, volleyball, tennis, roller hockey-you name it.
But it's not just a matter of trying to cram as much into the backyard as possible. Aesthetics, not to mention local zoning ordinances, still come into play, says Redmon, an avid mountain biker who designed his own backyard with several small hills and water elements so he could practice his favorite sport in simulated off-road terrain.
"Even if you have all the money in the world to buy these things, logic still needs to prevail," says Redmon. "You can buy a hundred thousand dollars worth of palm trees and throw them in your backyard trying to create a tropical oasis, but unless it follows a plan based on the classic relationships-symmetry, balance, rhythm-then you're just throwing your money away."
What's Hot in Backyards
Thinking about transforming your backyard into a stay-at-home destination? Then look beyond-way beyond-the traditional swimming pool/hot tub scenario. According to Central Florida architects and landscape designers, here are some of the elements found in today's fun-filled backyards:
. Wood-fired pizza ovens. Forget grilling burgers. Have the neighbors over for a homemade pepperoni and cheese pie.
. Multi-sports courts. Tennis, basketball, volleyball, you name it, the newest surfaces are easy on the joints and bones.
. Remote control tiki torches. A flip of the switch and it's luau time.
. Outdoor chessboards. Even though people seldom actually play chess on them, they can make a stunning and artful addition. Think playful sculpture.
. Fiber optics and full electronics. Light shows, arena-quality sound. You can have it all, but just warn the neighbors.
. Swim-in pool grottoes. Create your own sultry Blue Lagoon. Some of the more extravagant ones come with plasma TV and their own intimate dining rooms.
. Super pool slides. Wet 'n Wild is just outside the back door.