These Spectacular Swimming Pool Ideas Will Make Your Backyard Feel like a Resort

The color (Coach Green, Fine Paints of Europe) of this poolhouse in Bridgehampton, New York, blends in more than it stands out, echoing the green of the hedges. Architect Andrew B. Cogar and garden designer Charlie Marder employed dark gray tumbled Kota stone pavers and pool coping to help integrate the square pool into the landscape. “It’s understated, which is what makes the area so welcoming,” Cogar says.

Inspired by film producer Robert Evans’s home, the round pool brings a touch of Hollywood panache to Grey Gardens. Designer Mark D. Sikes designed custom chaise longues with Munder-Skiles.

Architect Hope Dana reconfigured the pool area of this Vero Beach, Florida, home into an inviting courtyard and a stage for artist Michelle Grabner’s 10-by-70-foot glazed ceramic and lava stone tile mural. The art collector homeowner wanted something to “animate the space, and the color contrast here is bold.” Chairs, Dedon

Lunch is served in the poolside gazebo at hotelier Kit Kemp’s Barbadian retreat. Classic white wicker chairs (Vincent Sheppard) encircle a table draped in a quilted aqua bedspread (Kit Kemp Collection for Annie Selke).

Landscape designer Álvaro Sampedro added a new pool to the garden of an ancient Spanish estate. Crowned with a sculptural fountain, the pool doubles as a soothing sound feature in a lush oasis dotted with Italian cypress and linden trees.

A pool framed by simple wood plank decking is tucked away along the side of artist Thomas Boog’s country house in France’s Loire valley. Chaises, Tectona

At tastemaker Tara Shaw’s dream home in New Orleans, the flagstone pool surround complements the graceful curves of the terrace. Chaises with cushions in a Sunbrella fabric, bench, and chairs, David Sutherland. 19th-century French urn, Tara Shaw Antiques

“A rimless edge pool puts the water level with the surrounding terrace, allowing it to become a mirror of the coastal sky,” says landscape architect Edmund Hollander of this waterfront Sagaponack, New York, home’s garden. He inserted a wooden Ipe deck within the Jerusalem limestone terrace to “make a room” for the chaise longues.

The family room of this Athens, Georgia, home boasts a stunning set of floor-to-ceiling glass and iron doors that open the entire room up to the generous backyard space and pool deck. “The house was built to accommodate being outside and around the pool with friends,” says designer Lanier Gupton.

The outdoor cabana of this Sea Island, Georgia, beach house designed by Ellen Kavanaugh ensures any day at the pool feels like a celebratory affair. Custom cabinet hardware, Patterson’s of Palm Beach. Faucet, Brizo

You would think the hoteliers of Reschio Estate, an 11th-century castle turned hotel in Umbria, would live on some distant hill rather than a 10-minute stroll from the castle. The couple’s five children had always wanted a pool, so their house overlooks the sunken pool set just outside the castle walls in a clearing of strappy umbrella pines.

At the home in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, he shares with husband and business partner Andrew Fisher, designer Jeffry Weisman lined the pool with brilliant deep lapis blue Talavera tiles.

At this Ross, California, home, landscape architect Erica Timbrell refinished an existing pool and chose gray limestone pavers as decking to extend into the living spaces, including where a dining terrace is framed by a pair of L-shaped garden beds. Strawberries, mint, and Shishito peppers grow in wattle-enclosed beds alongside Incrediball hydrangeas, Agastache, and Hidcote lavender.

In the pool garden of this Santa Monica, California, home, mature kumquat trees bookend a fireside sitting room designed by landscape architect Scott Shrader. The pool loungers are from RH.

At this Dallas home the design team of designer Meredith McBrearty, architect Ryan Street, and landscape architect Bill Bauer channeled the original house's midcentury roots with a sleek pool that features a dark blue-green bottom and coping flush with the water. A pair of vintage Willy Guhl Loop chairs sits pretty at one end.

Like a Slim Aarons photo, the pool at this Naples, Florida, home designed by Summer Thornton is steeped in glamour, from the large white planters and flush coping to the teak pool loungers (Sutherland) and patterned umbrellas (Sunbeam Jackie).

At this home in West Hollywood, California, landscape architect Anna Hoffman designed a pool and outdoor living space that channel the vibe of a European estate. The pool decking is French limestone, and the poolside living room is shaded by an alderwood pergola.

At this Bronxville, New York, home designed by Carrier and Company, the pool is tucked into a lush corner of the backyard. A trio of lilac standards flourishes in a tidy poolside bed of Franklin’s Gem hedges. Chaise longues, Country Casual Teak

Iconic vintage furniture and cheerful pops of red enliven the pool terrace of this California wine country home designed by Ken Fulk. Tubular 1940s rockers by Walter Lamb are from the estate of screen legend Shirley Temple. Chaises, RH. Cushion fabric, Sunbrella

The irregular shape of this pool surrounded by stone coping fits the woodland style of this Connecticut garden designed by homeowners Bill Reynolds and Robb Nestor. Beech and hemlock trees cast shade over the pool and pool terrace.