Take a Lap in Luxury

As a Mahwah couple’s tastes changed, they were due for a big splash—and a serious upgrade—in their backyard.

Text by Darius Amos Design by Tom Flint Photography by Adam Pass Photography

Those who soak in this Mahwah pool designed by Thomas Flint Landscape Design & Development are sitting in the lap of luxury. Imported Turkish marble lines a 12-foot-wall complete with six scuppers and two fire bowls, while an infinity-edge spa is made of iridescent glass tile from Italy. The patio is also done in the same marble from Turkey.

Styles and tastes had changed in the decade since a Mahwah couple had last touched the design of their backyard. She now preferred the clean and formal lines found inside their home, so the time seemed right to redo the existing free-form pool in the middle of the yard. Then the pandemic hit.

“We started work in 2020 before the pandemic,” says Tom Flint of Waldwick-based Thomas Flint Landscape Design & Development, which was hired to remove the entire in-ground pool from the fouracre space. “At first, we didn’t know if we had to stop and postpone everything, but fortunately we were allowed to work straight through—though we had to do it according to guidelines.”

The pandemic and the resultant need to keep workers socially distant weren’t the only obstacles facing Flint and his crew. For instance, they had to use caution while carrying equipment and materials so they wouldn’t damage the 200-foot-long paver driveway with heating system. And when they reached the yard, gaining access to it wasn’t simple either.

“We had to rip out the pool and patio and rebuild it going through a 12-foot passageway,” Flint recalls.

To fit the new pool, a collaborative design effort between Flint and the homeowners, workers removed about 400 cubic yards of soil from a steep slope in the yard. Doing that allowed them to relocate the new pool a tad farther from the house than the previous pool. Moving it into the hillside allowed Flint to properly install one of the pool’s main features, a big attraction for the family’s three kids.

“They wanted the slide to be high enough so it’s always fun,” he says. “A lot of people get bored with [straight and short] slides and they end up never being used. This slide is 16 feet above water level.”

The slide is built into a landscaped hill that’s held back by a 12foot wall reinforced by steel rebar. The wall is veneered with marble imported from Turkey, Flint notes, and features a half-dozen copper scuppers and two fire bowls that each spill water as well.

An infinity-edge spa, constructed from iridescent glass tile from Italy, was installed adjacent to the pool. Its dark color helps give the water’s surface a mirror effect, while the specific location next to the pool was at the request of the homeowners.

“It was designed so you can sit in the spa and have a clear view of the TV in the covered area,” Flint says.

The outdoor kitchen and bar—both retained from the previous design—were reworked and outfitted with the same luxurious Turkish marble. The same material was used for the patio.

“We custom-designed the patio pattern, giving each piece the same width but varied length,” the designer says. “The marble doesn’t get hot in summer, and the random pattern adds interest and keeps the design clean, just like the homeowners wanted.”

“This was a good collaboration with the owners,” Flint adds. “It wasn’t their first design—they understand what it takes for a good design to work, and every detail is considered.”

This page, top: A winding, 16-foot slide was built into the hillside and leads into the uniformly shaped pool. This page, bottom: Completed during the pandemic, a separate sitting and fire-bowl area offers another gathering “zone” for the homeowners and their guests. Flint raised the patio to break up the monotony and so the retaining wall behind it “wouldn’t seem so ominous.” Opposite page: Flint and his staff removed the old patio and “reworked” the outdoor kitchen, incorporating the same marble found around the pool in the entertaining and lounging areas.

PLANT LOVER’S PARADISE

A Ho-Ho-Kus yard has become a green-thumb triumph—just ask the passers-by who rave about it.

Text by Haley Longman Design by CLC Landscape Design Photography by Front Door Photography

Retained by a Ho-Ho-Kus homeowner with a penchant for plants, CLC Landscape Design in Ringwood helped him achieve the backyard he craved. The yard’s curvilinear shape is inspired by the freeflowing plants and foliage.

Everyone has a passion project, and for the owner of one Ho-Ho-Kus home, it’s planting. His No. 1 hobby is going out to local nurseries to find different types of plants to put in his yard, and he wanted to renovate his lawn to reflect this green thumb. So, with his kids grown and out of the house and with more time to devote to this pastime, he and his spouse brought in the big guns—CLC Landscape Design in Ringwood—to help his planting plans blossom.

“This client is the biggest plant lover I’ve ever worked with in all my years,” says Rich Cording Jr., project manager at CLC. “We wrote up a master landscape plan for him and helped bring a ‘plant lover’s paradise’ to life.” Cording says this partly involved integrating specific greenery the client requested, but was also about balancing colors and textures. “For example,” he says, “there’s some yellow-green foliage that we made sure was spaced out beautifully.”

But what’s a magic garden without comfortable seating areas from which to ogle? With that in mind, Cording and company created multiple destination points throughout the large yard, including a patio that’s conveniently located right off the kitchen with a dining table; grill and seat wall made of stacked Pennsylvania fieldstone; a covered, raised patio with extra seating around the fireplace; and a separate area for chaise lounges, which Cording says is the “central hub” of the yard and the most private, relaxing part of the property.

“Diagonally across the yard we also made a seating area with two Adirondack chairs,” says Cording. “This creates movement and gives the homeowners a reason to walk across the yard. Now they can look back at their house from that vantage point—it’s a view they don’t normally appreciate.” Another design decision was the hardscaping. The patio is made of natural cleft bluestone in varying gray and tan hues that look natural yet not monotonous.

Finally, the CLC team opted for a curvilinear patio and aesthetic (rather than rigid lines) to match the free-flowing greenery. “Plants organically have rounded shapes, and the curving patio and lawn edges were essentially inspired by the plants we used,” Cording explains.

The homeowner is thrilled with the finished product—and passers-by are quite impressed too. “He has people stop by all the time and tell him how beautiful his yard is,” Cording says with a laugh. “He loves chatting with his neighbors about this project and is proud to show it off.”

This page, top: An aerial view of the Ho-Ho-Kus property, which passers-by stop to compliment regularly. This page, bottom: Two Adirondack chairs on top of pea gravel add movement to the yard. “We love doing little seating areas in a far corner,” says designer Rich Cording Jr. Opposite page: The most private area of a yard is its center, so the CLC team added a trio of chaise lounges here for the ultimate in relaxation.