To home in on family memories, an Andover couple with two young children and a playful golden retriever named Goodwin have created an all-season retreat in their own backyard.
This wasn’t exactly what they set out to do. Initially, they thought they would simply add a swimming pool. As an alternative, they toyed with the idea of renting or buying a vacation home.
But Andover Landscape Design and Construction helped them create a recreation area that not only serves as an anchor for family events and entertainment but also for a variety of year-round activities ranging from swimming to ice skating.
“The space transports you to a boutique hotel escape crafted for enjoyment and comfort no matter the season,” says Russell Stott, a partner at Andover Landscape Design and Construction. “And the family doesn’t have to pack up and travel to a vacation rental to get the experience.”
The family’s clapboard-sided Colonial-style house, built in 2017, looks as though it has been there for decades. It’s rare for the area: It’s on a sizable piece of land on a historic street in the town next to protected wetlands. And its backyard, a steeply sloped swath of grass, was a blank slate.
“The site always tells you what to do,” Stott says. “All you have to do is listen. In this case, we reshaped the terrain to work with the hillside rather than against it.”
To create a seamless indoor-outdoor space that’s in sync with the landscape and architecture, Andover Landscape Design and Construction paired a pared-back design with classic materials, including bluestone pavers set in a pattern punctuated with lawn joints, fieldstone walls, granite stairs and copper-capped cedar-post fencing whose welded wire is virtually transparent.
The couple also was expanding the house with an addition, which proved to be a pivotal point of the outdoor project.
Andover Landscape Design and Construction designed a two-sided red-brick chimney for the addition and created a series of terraces to integrate the yard into spaces that flow effortlessly and naturally into each other.
Stott, Senior Landscape Architect Tim Houlihan, and their team created a lounging terrace with a heated spa around the fireplace, a cozy space for relaxing after a summer swim or soaking while watching snowflakes fall.
Bluestone pavers, separated by joints of grass and granite steps with gracious lawn treads lead to the 18-foot by 36-foot gunite pool, the focal point of the reimagined backyard.
The poolside patio, paved with bluestone, has room for a quartet of chaise longues plus side tables and umbrellas. The flower beds behind its fieldstone retaining wall sing of the scents and sights of summer – they are filled with perennials, including salvia, nepeta, lady’s mantle and chives, and hydrangeas and ornamental grasses that complement the surrounding landscape.
At the pool’s deep and shallow end, the Andover team added a flex lawn space where a swing/slide lives in warm weather and an ice rink takes up residence in the winter.
Just steps away, there’s a covered patio with a TV, and its raised deck, which overlooks the pool and extends from the kitchen, is styled as an al fresco dining space.
“The multi-water experience flows seamlessly – from pool to spa, to lounge to warmth of the fireplace, creating a thoughtfully connected outdoor living space designed for comfort, relaxation, and year-round enjoyment,” Stott says.
The family loves the backyard so much that they have never given a second thought to a second home.
“What’s awesome for us is how much they use the backyard day to day,” Stott says. “Their kids learned to swim in the pool, and Goodwin, the dog, has happily taken on lifeguard duty – he insists upon testing the water before anyone else.” The family milestone memories, which include hosting a birthday party that had 80 guests, are just beginning.