It's All About The View

Kelly Caviness, president of Caviness Landscape Design in Edmond, Okla., can't describe this Oklahoma City project without a good chuckle and the frequent repetition of the phrase: It was fun!

After previously completing a water feature on the estate, Caviness was asked by the homeowner to replace an existing pool with something more modern, better equipped and more fitting to the surroundings.

"We started over and the homeowners were pretty open," says Caviness. "They let us create something really fun."

The pool's 900-square-foot grotto is one of its main attractions, featuring three different streams of water where swimmers can access the inside. Complete with a swim-up bar, refrigerator, margarita machine, a plasma TV and all things necessary to host a great time outdoors, the grotto is also accessible by foot for anyone who prefers to hang out and stay dry.

While Caviness says the grotto was the most difficult thing to construct, he is sure to mention the 35-foot elevation difference between the original water feature and the pool. He connected the bodies of water through a 250-foot streambed "with different living spaces along the way."

The project used nearly 7,000 square feet of flagstone, says Caviness, and is linked to a programmable Color Kinetic light system where the homeowners have programmed 16 different light shows.

"The whole thing is just crazy cool. It was really fun."