Opposites attract: here's how to take portable spa designs to the next level by using contrasting themes

Pool & Spa News, March 28, 2005 by Rin-rin Yu

Forget what your teachers taught you in school. Sometimes a square peg fits inside a round hole. For example, picture a lush tropical oasis in the middle of a desert. How about a romantic Italian retreat in the snowy Midwest prairie or a secret country garden in the middle of a bustling metropolis?

Pool & Spa News brings you three portable spa designers who have transformed traditional living spaces into surprising private getaways. See how you can mix and match the ordinary with the extraordinary to create contrasting spa-scapes in some unlikely settings.

Landscaping and decorating experts also go from one extreme to the other. Therefore, for each profile, we asked several professionals to suggest a variety of ways to successfully recreate these contradictory, yet convincing, concepts.

ROMAN BATH IN THE HEARTLAND

Poolman of Wisconsin Inc.

Eau Claire, Wis.

He's a surgeon and she's a busy housewife with young children. But at least one evening a week, they hire a babysitter and slip away to their own private Italian villa.

"Everything revolves around the hot tub," says Wes Wiedenbeck, president of Poolman of Wisconsin Inc. in Eau Claire. "All it needs are some guys in robes and palm fans feeding them grapes."

Like a hidden jewel, the space was carved out of a basement under a four-car garage in Eau Claire. The couple enters through a secret passage in the house's library, concealed by a bookshelf that doubles as the door. The door unveils a private Roman bath, which echoes earth-toned hues of brown and copper wrapped around a champagne-colored bubbling basin. The spa is framed with columns, and an iridescent fabric drapes across the pillars to soften the hardness of the slate-and-stone look.

A glance outside the window is the only reminder of the spa's snowy Wisconsin setting. But this can be easily remedied with the closing of the textured glass doors. "The room is meant as a place to sit and relax, and look at each other; it's not a crowd pleaser," says interior designer Bonnie Feltz, co-owner of the Department of Interiors in Eau Claire, who works with Wiedenbeck on spa projects.

"This was designed as a retreat for this couple because of their busy lives," Feltz adds.

Her aim was to create a soft, calm feeling within the strong Roman structure. The ceiling above the spa is painted blue to suggest the sky, while bringing out the subtle blue flecks in the tile. Feltz avoided any sharp textures and angles, using smooth, curved candlesticks, for instance, to mimic water shapes.

Maintaining such a steamy spa in a closed, underground space requires some technical considerations, Wiedenbeck says. A ventilation system was installed, as well as heaters for warming up the basement, especially in the winter. Humidity vents in the ceiling automatically operate when they sense too much moisture in the room.

The room also features a glassed-in shower, wall mirrors and cozy sitting area. A blue chaise lounge and ottoman match the "sky," and a bench is trimmed with pillows.

Romanesque ideas for a grand prairie

* Drab: Cold, hard flooring.

* Fab: To warm up the tile, Feltz suggests an area rug. Natural fibers such as wool or cotton with neutral tones add texture to the environment.

* Drab: Uninviting colors and shapes.

* Fab: Greenery enlivens a room. Because plants wouldn't survive in the low-light underground room, Feltz recommends artificial varieties. "I'd choose plants with rounder leaves because we're trying to calm things down. No sharp points, which cause energy and excitement," she says. Curly willows, greenery with brown accents and plants with natural bark would keep colors subdued.

The result is bellissima.

"It's warm--elegant, that's the best word for it," Wiedenbeck says. "You feel like you're back in the Roman era because of the motif."

A TROPICAL DESERT

Patio Pools & Spas Tucson, Ariz.

Mark Ragel's client and good friend was intent on completely transforming his desert property. "He wanted to create a true backyard oasis," says the president of Patio Pools & Spas, a Pool & Spa News Top Builder in Tucson, Ariz.

After a home renovation, Ragel's client opened a backyard space big enough for a swimming lagoon, portable spa, a sprawling lawn, a crackling fireplace and a shaded cantina-style bar area with a barbecue grill on the porch. The homeowner came lip with a quaint, tropical getaway featuring birds of paradise, palm plants and cascading waterfalls behind his 1970s-style home.

"It just sings of being in Hawaii," Ragel says.

The spa is strategically angled so the bather can absorb a variety of views. One position overlooks a waterfall in the yard toward the Catalina Foothills. Another seat offers a full, unobstructed vista of the sunset. Yet another allows for conversation with those seated at the bar. An earth-tone colored concrete walkway leading to the spa complements the landscape and surrounding rockwork.

Shade shields people from the desert heat, and ceiling fans suspended from the overhang of this back porch cool those sipping drinks at the bar. Desert-resistant trees and plants also provide safe haven from the hot sun. "You'd think you're in a jungle," Ragel says.