Our newest construction project, a hybrid swimming pool in Ortonville, MI, is going to be awesome. Right from the beginning, we knew this would be a fun project. On the initial design appointment, they told Al they wanted “one of everything”–each element we have featured on the website. So the design includes a spillover spa, a sunshelf, a slide, waterfall, and grotto, and an outdoor kitchen area. Included in the outdoor kitchen is something we’ve never done before: a pizza oven. We love to incorporate new features in our designs, especially when they are personal touches that make a homeowner feel like their pool is all their own–perfectly tailored for each and every unique client. So, when these homeowners expressed their desire for a pizza oven, we were definitely up for the challenge.
We had to ask, though: why a pizza oven? This is a considerable investment for something that only makes one type of food. So we asked them why they wanted a pizza oven as part of their backyard experience. Do they just love pizza? Did they come across one while travelling? Did they see one on a cool homes show? Their answer made us even more excited about the opportunity to do this for them. “In short, we are ‘foodies’. We enjoy cooking a lot and really enjoy making awesome recipes ourselves. Erica has always make homemade pizza and one day she bought a pizza stone to try. It worked well and since then we have been pizza perfecters. We have tried dozens of dough recipes to achieve crusty but chewy pizza crust, make our own sauce from garden tomatoes, make cheese and grow tons of basil and really just want to take the making to the next level. We have had a number of family holidays with personal pizzas as the main course and everyone loves it. We envision a ton of kids swimming all day and then enjoying a great pizza party at night. Of course Dad and Mom will have a ball making them enjoying a few beers… 😉 It just seems like a cool addition to the backyard space.”
How cool is that? Pizza is a part of their lives, and now they will be able to achieve the next step in pizza perfection. Nothing beats a fresh, homemade, brick-oven pizza. Add that to a tried and tested homemade crust recipe, homemade sauce, and a long day of sun and swimming, and you’ve got an A+ pizza on your hands (or, preferably, in your mouth)! And, for us, the best part is the personal touch that this element adds. This pizza oven represents a piece of who they are as a family, and we love to be able to incorporate things like that in a pool area.
And here’s a great coincidence. This weekend, Sandi and Jessie were both watching a show on HGTV called “Cool Pools.” We were each watching it separately, and brought it up to each other this morning in the office…we just can’t get enough pools! There was one pool featured on the show that was really incredible–it was built high up in the Appalachian mountains, built out of the side of a mountain. The pool is literally in the clouds, and you can see that in the footage from the show. This pool also featured a pizza oven, and the family made the whole HGTV crew pizza for dinner after they finished filming. So who knows? Maybe we’ll be seeing a lot more pizza ovens in pool areas coming up.
