Pools and Spas: New Designs for Gracious Living

In industry expert Sanderfoot's homage to pools, hot tubs and fountains, readers are treated to a wide array of envy-inducing and sometimes awe-inspiring creations: vanishing edge pools that seem to merge into the blue seas beyond, spas ensconced in lush vegetation, fountains that pour into water lit with colored lights. From an Atlanta, Georgia, lap pool that's an integral part of the house (it's next to the bedroom on the second floor) to a tiled, modernist pool on a rooftop in Thailand, and from oases in the Arizona desert to pools built in London basements, these are the creme of the luxury crop. Sanderfoot provides""design details"" for each and at least two different photographic views, plus the names of the contractors, engineers and architects responsible. He divides the book into chapters focusing on different design elements, such as pools that look like natural ponds and pools that make use of small spaces. A guidebook for would-be pool owners rather than a coffee table book for the pool fan, this somewhat pricey volume offers much in the way of inspiration. What it doesn't offer is a sense of economic or environmental consciousness (there are a lot of huge pools in desert areas, for instance)--but that's undoubtedly on purpose.