This poolside retreat will wash away your winter blues

Sarah Tolle—Homify Canada Sarah Tolle—Homify Canada
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Landscape architect Paul Marie features a stunning new addition to a backyard in Wiesbaden, Germany: an airy, luxurious pool house that offers a miniature home away from home. Considering the town's history as a spa town, this romantic addition to the backyard is highly fitting!

This clever building not only functions as a practical place for a picnic and a post-swim shower, but also as an elegant and peaceful retreat complete with a friendly fireplace. Taking advantage of the privacy provided by the dense vegetation that hugs the backyard, this pool house enjoys an open design with plenty of welcoming windows to connect the interior with the outdoors—while the poolside structure can be entirely closed off, transparent walls give this little retreat a free and breezy atmosphere year-round.

​Elegant setting

Wiesbaden is a mid-sized city located in central Germany, but don't let the interior location fool you—this town is known for being one of the oldest spa towns in Europe. Wiesbaden has been nicknamed the Nice of the North, flowing with 14 hot springs and historical bath structures that attract many visitors each year. That said, this luxurious home addition certainly has added appeal, considering the local context of spa and bath culture. This pool deck features a smooth, wide surface perfect for sunbathing with an effortless approach via shallow steps on the left. Freshly added tufts of grass and shrubs add an exotic vibe, partially enclosing the pool area by adding a naturally vibrant green fence. The new pool house sits proudly at the far end of the rectangular pool, its transparent walls allowing you to see clear through to the trees on the other side. A kitchen sits behind the stone wall, with a stone chimney standing on the opposite side of the structure.

​Elevation

This side view provides an interesting view of the stone and glass walls of the home—here, it is easy to see the shell of glass that encloses the structure, while an additional layer of thick grey stone has been installed on the inside to provide just enough privacy in the dining and prep areas. The table enjoys a view of the pool through a long, horizontal window, installed at an optimal height for seated viewing. A bathroom is found in the enclosed brown mass nestled behind the main structure.

​Plan

This pool, deck, and pool house adhere to a balanced layout with accessible, well-proportioned space for each outdoor and indoor activity. The diagram shows a large pool and nearby sun deck, the a sitting room enjoying easy access to the deck through double doors. The bathroom and utilities room sit to the right, accessible only from the outside in order to provide streamlined access as people jump from the pool to the bathroom and back again. In this clever design, recreational and common-use spaces occupy the spotlight, while the utilitarian spaces (bathroom, shower, utilities room, kitchen prep area) are obscured, making for an aesthetically pleasing design that doesn't attempt to place too much in the limelight.

​Poolside shower

By descending a few smooth concrete steps behind the pool house, this family enjoys access to a simple outdoor showing for rinsing off after a swim.

​Friendly fireplace

This unique fireplace has a freestanding look created by the removal of solid walls, leaving the chimney standing proudly between panes of glass (which, as an interesting design feature, form seamless corner windows sans frame). The central sitting room enjoys a rare feeling of openness and extension similar to that of an infinity pool, provided by the addition of transparent walls on all sides, with the chimney forming a strong anchor in the center of the design.

For more stunning poolside and deck designs, tour this modern example in Portugal!

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