Resort Living at Home: Outdoor Living Spaces That Feel Like a Vacation

A backyard can be more than just a secondary space. Idyllic creations such as these landscapes strike a balance between the familiarity and comfort of home and the serene, dreamlike qualities of a luxury resort. Lush greenery and shimmering pool reflections transform these backyards into real-life fantasies and ones you only need to open the door to.

Sudbury Design Group

Architect: KT2 Design Group, Builder: Coda Home, Interior Design: Reider + Co., Landscape Architect: Sudbury Design Group, Landscape: R.P. Marzilli & Company, Pool: Environmental Pools, Photography: Jimi Smith Photography

Sudbury Design Group has curated this Weston backyard into a custom spa experience like no other. As dusk highlights the in-ground pool, the backyard’s firefly-esque lighting creates brushstrokes of warm yellow light against the fresh greenery. In the center of it all, the elevated, bubbling jacuzzi transforms winter’s brisk chill into an endless, summer-like scene. Glide across the stone deck and choose how you want to spend your at-home vacation: slip into the calm surface of the shimmering, refreshing pool—or stretch out your legs and close your eyes against the hot tub’s jets and oversee the whole party from the backyard’s central focus. And when you need a break, the pool house awaits, inviting you to imagine endless gatherings and cookouts, or a tranquil evening wrapped in a blanket on the cushioned furniture.

Sport Court of MA

Sport Court Contractor: Sport Court of MA, Sports Surfacing Solution: Geosurfaces

Are you ready to test your game? Step foot onto the vibrant and exciting indoor and outdoor athletic courts made for families all across New England. Transform your backyard into the practice facility and competition grounds of your dreams. Whether you envision a backyard basketball court, a versatile multi-sport surface, a pickleball court, or a professional-grade tennis court, Sport Court of MA offers tailor-made solutions designed to bring your at-home recreation dreams to life. Whether it’s a hard court or artificial turf greens, Sport Court’s partnership with Geo Surfaces will make playing games and practicing with friends and family a reason to be outside every day.

Onyx Corporation

Courtesy of Onyx Corporation

Onyx Corporation’s stunning example of a zen space, Bluestone Masterpiece, is one they reflect upon with fondness and pride. In a collaboration with fantastic clients, this challenging project pushed Onyx in all the best ways. In 2019, they embarked on their newest endeavor, starting with the front of the house: designing and installing elegant bluestone landings and walkways, self-capping fieldstone walls, drainage systems, plantings, and a well-maintained lawn. The second step of their plan required a broader approach—implementing the expansive terrace for the pool and including more of the stone that gave this project its unique name. This picture of relaxation would not be complete without the renovations from Custom Quality Pools, as well as the IPE decking, custom arbor, and fencing. The final aspect, a masonry outdoor kitchen complete with appliances and mature landscaping, resulted in a final project that is entirely breathtaking.

Lynch Landscape

Landscape Architect: Lynch Landscape, Sport Court Contractor: Sport Court of MA, Outdoor Technology and Sound: Cloud MIS Photography: Chris Major, CM Images, LLC

This fully equipped outdoor kitchen and spacious dining area are the perfect setting for enjoying home-cooked meals throughout long summer days. An all-weather television resides above an oversized fireplace, creating the ideal place for watching the big game or a blockbuster movie on a warm day. On a lower level, a sports court is available for shooting hoops with friends and family. A beautiful landscape and uplights on the wall make play possible long past sunset. For those seeking a quieter retreat, just a few steps down is a cozy fire pit where the possibility of conversation awaits, surrounded by the warmth of the fire and the delight of the surrounding pollinator gardens.

Indresano Corporation

Courtesy of Indresano Corporation

Focused on rest and rejuvenation, Indresano’s poolscape offers sun-soaked summer days on the white paver patio or in the inground pool, echoing the rush of the nearby waterfall. The built-in seating immersed in the refreshing water invites you to dip in the cool water while resting in the afternoon sun with an open book. Playful native plantings add color and vibrancy to the space, and bits of shade allow respite from the sun in a restful seating area. In this dynamic outdoor retreat, Indresano brings summer dreams to life.

Executive Landscaping

Courtesy of Executive Landscaping

This stunning contemporary project from Executive Landscaping is a breath of fresh air. The neutral palette of the selected plantings ties together tones and creative features from the home. The radiant ocean-blue pool in the backyard blends the sky and landscaping, inviting you to explore this piece of heaven on earth. Feel at peace as you experience the breeze and listen to the rustling of the long grasses, or float on your back in the crystal clear waters that cover the vast majority of the backyard. Executive Landscaping has captured the life you want to wake up to every morning, a curated home beyond your wildest imagination.

Environmental Pools

Left – Architect: Shope Reno Wharton, Builder: Parker Construction Company, Interior Design: Acampora interiors, Landscape Architect: Sudbury Design Group Landscape: Landscape Creations, Pool: Photography: Environmental Pools, Jimi Smith Photography

Right – Builder: Landscape Architect: Hawk Design, Landscape: R.P. Marzilli & Company, Pool: Environmental Pools, Photography: Jimi Smith Photography

These pools look like once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to ease your way into their undisturbed waters that, from afar, reflect the heavenly summer skies across their surfaces. Embrace their calm as you melt into the built-in seating suspended just beneath the refreshing divide between summer air and a cool escape. Watch the sky change colors into dramatic pinks and purples as the day slips into evening from the cushioned backyard furniture curated in a palette just to match the tones and emotions of the season. A circular fire pit is complemented by curved seating, inviting all to gather by the warm light of the flames.

Boston Pergolas

Landscape Architect: Sudbury Design Group, Pergola: Boston Pergolas, Photography: Nat Rea Photography

Boston Pergolas brings to you the perfect, luxury outdoor retreat. Featuring a Motorized Pergola, this exquisite outdoor living space in Concord seamlessly combines style, comfort, and functionality. This project showcases a state-of-the-art motorized louvered pergola, which offers the perfect blend of modern technology and timeless elegance. Nestled in a serene backyard, “The Concord” is designed to enhance the outdoor experience with its versatile and customizable features. The pergola offers adjustable shade and protection, enabling you to control the amount of sunlight and airflow with the simple touch of a button. Whether you’re enjoying a sunny day or seeking shelter from the rain, this pergola adapts to your needs, ensuring year-round usability, contributing to a hands-off, relaxing summer day.

Blue Claw Associates Inc.

Architect: A Tesa Architecture, Builder: Genex Homes (Charles DeFreitas), Landscape Architect: Infinity Design Group Inc. (Patrick Sweeney), Landscape Architect: Blue Claw Associates Inc.

This seaside project marks an impressive collaboration by Blue Claw and Genex Homes of Warwick, Rhode Island, in which they transformed both the hardscape and landscape. The stone terrace—located at the back of the property —serves as the focal point of this outdoor living area. It is situated to take advantage of the lovely ocean views and sunset, and it includes a stone tiki-style bar, a gas-lit fire pit, and an outdoor grilling area. The ocean-facing verandas required thick thermal bluestone surfaces to be set on the veranda house walls, creating a durable space that would stand the test of time and nature. 

R.P. Marzilli and Gregory Lombardi

Landscape Architect: R.P. Marzilli & Company, Landscape: Gregory Lombardi design, Photography: Neil Landino Photography

This collaboration between R.P. Marzilli and Gregory Lombard produced a backyard that redefines the expectations of an engaging and creative secondary space. This family paradise includes a built-in slide that runs into a magnificent in-ground pool framed in stunning stone details, as well as a turf sports field that overlooks the sunset from its elevated position in the backyard. These perfectly designed facilities invite you to splash, slide, and score all without needing to leave the comfort of your home. Instead, R.P. Marzilli and Gregory Lombardi invite you to imagine your home as the one-stop shop for all of your most exciting interests and passions.