Abstract:
This custom colonial sits in a newer development that boasts larger lot sizes and deep backyards, and the clients were able to add a heated swimming pool after their purchase. However, the home is serviced by a septic system, and the system and leak fields occupied a large portion of the backyard, making for an almost 50-yard trek between the pool and home.
Publication Date:
Sat, 2007-03-31 19:00
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| The homeowners decided to add the screened porch after the project commenced so the porch had to be carefully executed to ensure it related well with the swimming pool. After photos by Scott Bergmann Photography |
Walking to the home for each fresh towel or a soda became impractical, so the owners decided a cabana would add multi-purpose functionality. The homeowner had used a do-it-yourself CAD program to offer the overall vision of the project based on a picture he'd seen in a magazine, which helped shape the aesthetics.
"While it was an unusual situation, I pulled good ideas for spatial requirements as they relate to the pool filter, pool heater and septic tank from those drawings, as well as a sense of what he wanted style-wise with the Roman columns," says Jim Sasko, founder and president of Saratoga Springs-based Teakwood Builders, the remodeler and architect for the project.
The site required specific configurations. "Our first priority was to make sure the cabana was high enough to drain with the proper slope and elevation, so we had to break sewer line. And in addition to meeting the code requirements for the setback distance, we had to reset the pool pavers to make sure they pitched away from the cabana," he says.
The final design produced a 900-square-foot cabana complete with a full bathroom; working kitchen and bar area; screened porch; and connected storage area in the rear. Low-voltage halogen lights surround the structure. Beveled cedar siding and high-quality finishes mirror the look and tone of the existing home.
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| The full-service kitchen opens to the outdoors and provides an outdoor eating area. |
"We ended up building a pool cabana that cost about the same as a home, so they really had to love it and be thoroughly invested in how they would use the space for their family," Sasko says.
"To me the best indicator of how well the space worked out was that the wife threw the husband a surprise 40th birthday party that was solely around the pool. There were about 100 people there, and the caterers and bartenders had everything they needed and were able to work in the cabana. It was nice to say after it was all said and done that it really worked. It did everything it was supposed to do."
