Perched atop a hill overlooking the Ohio River and downtown Cincinnati, this elegant free-form pool in Covington, Ky., is the first commercial vanishing-edge pool in the state, says Bob Shehan, vice president of sales and marketing for Shehan Pools in Florence, Ky.
Shehan says vanishing edges are just starting to catch on in his market, and he cites cost as one reason. "Things here are double, sometimes triple the cost of what they are in California or Arizona. It's significantly cheaper to build pools there than it is here," he says.
This particular pool and 65-foot edge required extra attention and expertise. "The whole pool had to be raised 6 feet to get the elevation we needed for the vanishing edge and the view," says Shehan. "So we did have an engineer out on the site and had to core drill and sink several piers for the vanishing edge about 25 feet down into the ground." The backside of the edge is real stone — much of which came from the building site. "We hit a tremendous amount of rock during excavation, and a lot of that rock is used for that vanishing edge. We used different sizes, and set some protruding out and others recessed back in, so when the water comes over, you get that aerated look."
The edge also serves as a water feature, since anyone driving up to the development can't help notice it. Says Shehan, "The developer wanted to make a statement for their potential homeowners to see when they come up the hill."
If the developer was hoping to convey sophisticated luxury, then mission accomplished.
