The arbor covers much of the pool, which means lots of leaves and debris. We expressed our concern about this to Pries, but she saw a fair trade-off between beauty and maintenance challenges and left it to us to develop a circulation system and skimmer locations that would accommodate the plantings. As designed and executed, the arbor is indeed a unique and eye-catching touch - one that gives the pool its personality.
  The grape leaves winding up the pillars and hanging down through the overhead slats soften the stiff lines and offer a tranquilizing green contrast to the overall impression of the rectilinear forms. The pale green and the quiet exterior grays accent the dark-brown shingles of the house - an honest evocation of a New England beach house.

RETURN TRIP
  We were delighted when Pries contacted us about a second project, this one

high atop a hill in Newport Coast about two miles inland from the beach. The steep rise of the topography fits the area above much of the ocean mist and into a much drier and warmer microclimate - an atmosphere reminiscent of a semi-arid Mediterranean coastline and one that gave her the opportunity to change genres and move in an entirely different design direction.
  This time around, thoughts of fog-shrouded beach houses were replaced by those of Tuscan-style villas. From the yellow stucco walls and the heavy, rough wooden doors and shutters to the soft, decomposed-granite pathways that wind through the gardens, this home gives you the feeling that you've traveled to a different place and time.
  Among the most spectacular features here are the first floor's open-arched patios, which provide transitions from the home's antique-laden interiors to the surrounding garden spaces. An open-air atrium - outfitted with thick cotton drapes instead of doors and filled with weathered wicker furniture - opens onto a terraced swimming pool deck surrounded by roses, a variety of shrubs and olive and pepper trees.
  Once again, Pries chose a simple rectilinear shape for her pool. This kept the watershape itself from becoming too complex, but she allowed for variations in deck levels that we exploited to develop visual interest and create a range of defined viewpoints. The spa is attached to the pool only by a wide bond beam and equalizer lines, yet the subtle rise from the wide pool coping as you step up to the wide spa coping creates the illusion that the bodies of water are on one level and connected.   
  The illusion is intensified by the "bottomless pool" effect created by a deep gray plaster. In contrast to the way the plaster on the Cape Cod-style project seemed to make the pool disappear beneath the arbor and upon the green lawn, the darkness of this pool captures reflections, suggests timelessness and serves more distinctly as a focal point.
  Once again, material selections were critical drivers of the design. Pries had discovered a rock material called Ortega Stone - a chunky, hard, very uneven material with rough-hewn edges and crusty lines that give the deck and the surrounding low wall a rustic, aged look much akin to the ancient walls of stacked stone found throughout Italy. The decomposed granite surrounding the pool intensified this sense of stepping into a time warp.

Because of its rough texture, the stone was not the most functional choice for decking and coping material. Again, we discussed this concern with Pries and proceeded with great care to make certain the stone coping was level, smooth, and fulfilled all the structural requirements of any other coping material. (We also discussed her choice of trees without persuading her otherwise, despite the fact that olive and pepper trees are about as messy as any species on the planet.)
  Midnight Black slate was chosen for the waterline tile, enhancing the reflections of the dark pool water but making for somewhat tricky installation in that the large slate pieces had to be placed perfectly under the irregular stone coping to maintain a straight and consistent waterline perimeter. What we achieved is an invisible tile line that leaves only water reflections beneath a naturally textured cantilever.

WELLSPRING
  The most challenging moments of a project are quite often unforeseen at the beginning, and that was the case in this Tuscan-flavored collaboration.
  As part of her work, Pries collects a variety of items in Europe that she incorporates into her decor and construction. One such item was an antique water-pump head she'd found at a small farm in France. The pump head was quite old and interesting, and it seemed natural to place it in a visually dominant location.
  After a bit of discussion, we built a square, unadorned block structure at the center of the view from the atrium arches at the far end of the pool to support the pump head. That was no challenge, but the spout itself offered its share.