We're Getting A Pool - The Design - August 2023

When I was in San Francisco visiting Kelly at the end of June, Ryan had determined that it would be our last summer without a pool. We had put a pool in at our previous house during 2018/2019 and it was a game changer for us. We used it all the time and loved having it. We could be outside on days where it would otherwise just make sense to stay inside and enjoy the AC. Dolly would lounge on the spa and hang her little paws off every single edge of that pool. She had a float and couldn't wait to jump on so that Ryan would push her from one end of the pool to another. When we decided to sell our house at then end of 2020, we knew we would miss it, but vowed to get another one some day. I even framed a picture of Dolly laying on her spa and put it in Ryan's office in our new house to remind him of how much joy the pool brought us. Pool prices had skyrocketed during Covid, so we knew it would be a wait. As each year passed, it seemed more and more like a fantasy. Finally, we started hearing about a slow down in the swimming pool industry and knew it was time to move.

We lined up appointments with three different pool builders. Aloha, Blue Haven & Anthony & Sylvan, who built our previous pool. We had a vision of what we wanted the backyard to look and feel like, but we really weren't sure if we could afford it. The only pool builder that really listened to us and brought every aspect of what we wanted to our design was Anthony & Sylvan. From there, we were able to peel back anything that didn't work with our budget. They provided the best design and the most transparency with their pricing. They even brought in a separate contractor, CCR Backyard Design, to confirm and hone in on hardscape estimate before we signed with them.

Here's the design we went with!