Original subtitles

♪♪

narrator: Ever wonder what your neighbors' pool really looks like,

but just can't see past the fence?

So it's really four pools in one.

Narrator: Well, don't worry.

We've done all the dirty work for you.

This outdoor living area is massive.

Narrator: And what you will see is going to blow your mind.

♪♪

this is the place to be. We just have fun.

We could've never dreamed that we'd have that

in our backyard in a million years.

So bust out that lounge chair and soak it all in,

because we're showing you

the most epic pools around the country.

The only question is, which one will leave you saying,

"best pool ever"?

These pools offer something for every member of the family.

These are the best... Whoo!

...Family-fun pools.

[ water bubbling ]

♪♪

in league city, texas,

there's a pool that brought dreams to life.

I always jump off the diving rock whenever I come.

♪♪

we have a blast. Matt's making drinks.

The kids are having a great time.

We can hang out in the hot tub. It is so much fun.

Matt: When people first walk to the back,

suddenly it's like, "oh, my gosh.

You guys live at a resort."

narrator: And it's a resort all their own,

with four stone-arch swim-through waterfalls,

secret pathways, and an elevated spa.

We've been dreaming about a pool since we were married.

We've been married for 15 years.

When we moved here, there was nothing in the backyard

except for a huge piece of grass.

We wanted to create our own paradise in the backyard.

Narrator: And none of this would've been possible

without builder joe dipaolo's creativity.

My biggest priority is to create magic.

Kelly: Joe dipaolo is a creator of dreams.

He's a magician when it comes to pools.

Narrator: And the identity of this pool

was created out of an estimated 100 tons of natural stone,

and features a signature joe touch.

I was a stained-glass artist for many years

back in my home of baltimore.

I love to do pools with glass.

We asked him to make sure that he put a little bit

of stained glass somewhere in there.

And he did, right underneath the waterfall

in a little private space.

I try to give the people more than they ever imagined.

He just blew our minds.

He made something completely more than what we expected.

Everything's texas-size. It's extra large.

Narrator: At 65 feet long, this pool has 65,000 gallons of water

teeming through it and is nine feet at its deepest point.

Walk out the back door --

to the right is gonna be the outdoor kitchen and the bar.

Narrator: And inside the pool, more fun,

with a swim-up bar in the center for adults.

Right in front of you's gonna be the first main waterfall

that you see across.

Narrator: And at the end, a large jumping rock

where kids can plunge into an eight-foot depth.

Kelly: There's a huge water arch that pours water over into the pool

that you can swim under, and then through that water arch

is another larger grotto with a waterfall,

and the stained-glass window is in that grotto.

The slide's hidden around the corner.

The stone bridge, which is one solid piece of stone

that they brought in on this gigantic truck --

that sends you across to the hot tub.

And in the hot tub's a little grotto.

♪♪

we have a waterfall that actually sends in hot falls

to the hot tub.

It's super private, but yet, it's super open.

When I'm in that hot tub, I feel that I'm on vacation.

The useable space of my house doubled when I built the pool,

because now I have all this outdoor living out there.

We just thought it'd be great to have our family over,

and get-togethers, and making memories in our pool.

We didn't ever dream that this would be, uh --

never. Yeah. We could've never dreamed

that we'd have that in our backyard

in a million years.

Narrator: From a natural rock party pool in texas

to a southern california resort-style getaway.

When you walk through the doors, you are truly transformed

into an amazing experience.

Man: It's got everything you need.

It's got a bar, it's got the fire pit,

and the grotto is amazing.

And then if you're feeling like a kid, you go on the slide.

♪♪

woman: This is great to just have a couple drinks.

There's a hot dog machine.

Here we go. So, cheers.

Narrator: Matt and cindi moved from denver, colorado,

to southern california two years ago

with one thing in mind --

trading in long, cold winters for a new life in the sunshine.

And what better way to enjoy it than with a brand-new pool?

Matt: When we moved in, the fire pit was the complete pool.

And it was just probably three or four feet deep,

and that was it.

Ramos: So we had to come in and figure out

how we're gonna make all this happen.

So they tore out the whole backyard,

and then it took eight months to design the pool

and then another eight months to build the pool.

We have 12 or 13 palm trees that we imported.

Cindi: Coming from colorado, we don't get to see palm trees.

So we wanted to make it look like a paradise.

Narrator: With the tropical landscaping finished and the pool complete,

they kept going, adding bonus features

for that big resort dream.

Ramos: The pool is 92 feet long, 30 feet wide.

The whole pool is finished in polished glass beads,

and it has celestial system on the pool floor

that actually replicates stars in the sky.

♪♪

so, in the center of this pool we have a sunk-in fire pit.

The fire pit -- there's plenty of room.

It's just a nice, casual atmosphere.

Ramos: It's got a beautiful 360-degree view.

You can either look at the amazing house,

overlook the golf course, or our incredible pool.

Speedy delivery!

Our grotto's more of a cave,

so you can pretty much fit all your friends in there.

It's closed off from the entire rest of the pool.

I mean, if you wanted a place to go

and just hang out with a loved one, the cave is it.

[ chattering ]

I think one of the most special features is the swim-up bar,

creating an area where everybody can go down

and entertain on both sides of the pool.

We created our stools to look like tree stumps,

so each one's a little bit different

than the one next to it.

[ chatter, laughter ]

♪♪

cindi: We actually never have to leave our house.

We live at a resort, as you can see.

This is the place to be. I invite my other friends.

I just bring everybody over. We just have fun.

Woman: The view of the golf course, the pool --

spending my weekend here is like being in paradise.

Cindi: I love having people over

because they're just so excited by the pool.

It's fun to share that with people.

I hate my pool now. Like, I don't love my pool

anymore now that I've seen their pool.

So they have to actually force me to leave now.

Matt: It's been surreal.

Even after two years, every day we're just like,

"wow, we did it."

we accomplished one of our dreams... Yeah.

...To get out to california and live.

♪♪

narrator: This next pool rivals any french country estate,

smack dab in the middle of texas.

Man: There's a lot of trinkets on this pool --

slide, putting green, sunken trampoline.

And boy, lemme tell you --

this outdoor living area is massive.

Narrator: And later...

Both: This pool is brought to you by the letter "r."

♪♪

[ children shouting ]

[ water bubbling ]

♪♪

it was really important for us to build a pool

that accommodated both kids and adults.

The first three questions I ask a customer is --

where are you gonna eat? Where are you gonna tan?

And where are gonna watch the ball game?

And boy, lemme tell you --

this outdoor living area is massive.

Narrator: This palatial pool takes up some serious real estate

in the backyard of this secluded residence.

Nestled in the texas countryside,

this home is in the french provincial style.

So the pool was built to match, with symmetry

and refined details.

But beyond its elegance, it's just a kids' playground...

[ screams happily ]

...From an in-ground trampoline

to a giant putt-putt course

to the pool's multiple jumping platforms

and hidden tornado slide.

Smith: What we wanted to do is create

an architecturally compatible tower,

while at the same time housing this massive tornado slide

that's custom-designed that fits inside the tower.

So when you look across, you see the mouth of the slide

and then all of a sudden, you just see a kid

come shooting out of the slide.

I don't think it's ever been done before.

It's awesome.

Narrator: And for the adults, there's a massive spa

built right into the pool that can hold up to 12 people.

Well, it's technically three pools.

So, the upper pool is shallow-deep-shallow.

It's set up for volleyball, basketball,

chaise lounges, hanging out.

So everything is where you can stand up.

When you go over to the slide tower, that's a plunge pool.

That pool's 12 to 14 feet deep.

Then you go down to the lower-level pool,

and that's your river, your pergola, your island.

It's got a great shade.

So really when you take all three pools together,

there is 126,000 gallons of water.

♪♪

narrator: Beyond the bells and whistles,

the french provincial style

called for real close attention to every detail.

And the materials here were shipped from all over the world.

Smith: They come from peru, turkey, and Italy.

There's 4,000 square feet of hand-set

travertine pavers out here.

The lining of the pool

is a mixture of luminous glass beads and abalone.

Abalone is mother of pearl, which you see in the sea.

When we started this project,

we wanted the design concept to flow from the front yard

through the house into the backyard.

And the diamond inlay in the house

are replicated into the design in the backyard.

When you see the client and they're laughing and loving,

that's what my favorite part of this job is.

♪♪

narrator: From a sprawling pool palace

to an intimate backyard oasis,

this southern california pool was built with fun

for the whole family in mind.

I call this epic pool, and I absolutely believe

it's the best pool that's out there.

Narrator: "epic" is right. This lagoon-style pool is huge.

And surrounding it is everything you need

to entertain day to night,

including a full kitchen, dining area,

not one but two tvs, and a movie screen.

Kalamian: That was really something that we worked towards,

is creating this amazing entertainer's paradise.

And I think we really hit the nail on the head.

Whoo!

Eric: It had to have a hot tub,

because a lot of times in the evening

it's nice to come home and have a hot tub to jump into.

Kalamian: Eric wanted hot water hitting his head in the spa,

so we have a recirculating pump

that pumps hot water from the spa.

It recirculates in and upon itself.

Eric: I wanted to have waterfalls

because I like the sound of waterfalls,

and I feel it makes it a better location.

Kalamian: If you're entertaining and you have kids over,

they love to swim in the cave

and hide behind the big sheer descent of water.

It's not just for kids. Adults can go, too.

Do I need to show you? [ laughs ]

whoa!

Kalamian: So not only is there a waterfall with a grotto over to the left,

but there's also a waterfall that falls down the steps

that lead up to the spa.

Narrator: All around the pool are secluded areas

designed just for hanging out.

The full kitchen is elaborate, with a large gas grill,

built-in cooler, full bar, and seating.

Cheers, everybody.

Kalamian: The homeowner has a lot of friends,

throws a lot of parties, and wanted a space

where all of his friends and family could come over

and everybody could enjoy every part of the yard.

Narrator: Across the pool, sink your feet

into the sand bottom around the sunken fire pit

and you're transported to somewhere tropical.

How could I make it the most incredible pool that there was?

And that was really the goal as far as finding every feature

to make it an incredible backyard not just for myself,

but also family and friends.

So it was very, very important that we integrate

tvs into the landscape.

Narrator: And these two tvs are made for the outdoors.

They're fully waterproof

and ultra bright for daytime viewing.

So once the sun goes down,

the screens fire up and the party continues.

The pièce de résistance in this yard is the projector screen.

♪♪

it's amazing. It's 10 feet high by 14 feet long.

The projector is actually my son's idea.

I came up with the idea of putting it

into actually a rock formation,

which is the same rock formation that we used for the waterfalls,

so that it was actually hidden and you couldn't see it.

Kalamian: We outlined the frame of the screen with bamboo

to make it look and feel kind of rustic and authentic.

It's my goal to always design something

that the homeowner's very, very happy with.

Alright, you guys ready to eat?

-Yes! -We got kabobs.

The whole enchilada's just absolutely fun and beautiful,

and everybody that comes back here can't stop raving about it.

[ laughs ]

man: It's good for the young kids, for the older kids,

the adults can hang out over here.

So it's perfect.

We definitely feel lucky coming here.

Eric: The backyard now is my dream. I love it.

Wanna try to spend as much time as I can back there.

♪♪

narrator: Get ready to see how these homeowners brought

this incredible two-level pool in for a landing...

I thought, "it'd sure be nice to be able to fly down here."

♪♪

narrator: And this enormous riverside pool in texas...

I didn't realize the type of pool it was going to be.

...With a distinctively personal touch.

He drew it out on a napkin. He said, "what about this?"

and I go, "that's perfect."

♪♪

♪♪

[ children shouting ]

[ water bubbling ]

narrator: A vacation home has to have it all.

And at this lakeside retreat in texas,

there's nothing too extravagant.

When we're not here, we always would wanna be here.

The view is spectacular.

My parents wanted something we couldn't say no to.

Narrator: Who could say not to all this --

two pools connected by a water slide,

with a built-in spa and sundecks?

Between the pools is a large outdoor kitchen,

and it's all accessible by helicopter --

if you've got one.

Allison: When I showed up at this project,

there was an existing pool

that was a long rectangular pool that was broken in half.

And, uh, there was really no way to salvage that pool.

Narrator: So what they came up with was a shallow upper pool

meant for wading and taking in that lake view,

and a dramatic negative-edge waterfall

that flows into a 50-foot-long lower pool.

The negative edge is all-natural stone,

and was picked and formed in place.

You know, on a really hot day, this is a nice place to hang out

and get a little shade.

Under the grotto is a great place to be.

It's kind of like your own outdoor air conditioning.

♪♪

the upper pool is approximately 900 square feet,

and it's a diving pool.

Its depth is up to eight-foot-six-inches,

has a tanning area. Whoo!

The lower pool's approximately 1,100 square feet,

and we actually have two anchors

so you can play basketball in the lower pool.

And that upper pool drops nine feet to the lower pool.

Narrator: The two pools are separated

by a free-form radius glass guardrail

to keep the pool safe

without obstructing the perfect lake view.

♪♪

my parents take a lot of pride in this place,

and, uh, it's very accessible for all of us.

And they encourage us to have our friends come often.

So any time we can do a gathering and convince people

to come through it, it's always a fun time.

Steve: This is now where we have all of our family get-togethers.

We do christmas, thanksgiving,

any other day that we can think of to get together.

We've actually had a lot of our friends come down here

and spend their vacations here.

We've had bachelorette parties,

bachelor parties of our kids and their friends.

And, uh, it's just a major meeting spot.

Every detail of it was perfect for our family.

Anything that steve does, it's to, uh, 100% capacity.

Steve: When we first started building this house,

we were a three-hour and 15-minute

drive down to here.

I thought, "it'd sure be nice to be able to fly down here."

my wife, susie, went along with it.

And she said, "well, tell you what.

You go ahead and build a helipad,

and, uh, then we'll talk about the helicopter later."

and I thought, "okay, that's all I need."

the helicopter pad is a great perk.

I think it's a real crowd-pleaser.

I think that's, uh, one of the first things

that people notice when they're here.

Son: I know he flew planes when he was younger.

And then, you know, as his adult life

took over and raising his kids

and running his company, he didn't have time.

So I think he saw in his, uh, twilight years,

you know, taking up a new hobby

and potentially that being a helicopter.

So he went ahead and built the pad.

Steve: I have not gotten ground school out of the way,

but I'm still gonna check that box

and I will get that helicopter pilot's license.

♪♪

narrator: This next pool is four pools in one.

We've got it all at the river ranch.

And it's branded with a signature stamp

that's for these homeowners and no one else.

No matter what it is, if he's gonna do it,

he's gonna do it big.

♪♪

[ children shouting ]

[ water bubbling ]

♪♪

narrator: Sometimes, it takes a pool professional

to take a risk in their own backyard.

I was sitting down at the local community pool with my children.

I thought, "why am I doing this?

I'm in the pool business. I should build my own pool."

I said, "I was thinking the same thing!"

♪♪

I didn't realize the type of pool it was going to be.

We got a volleyball pool with a 65-foot negative edge,

a huge island with a rock waterfall,

a grotto cave you can swim into, a bridge, a slide,

and over here we have a diving board.

♪♪

we've got it all at the river ranch.

Boy: Go, go, go, go!

Most folks don't even realize that it's an "r."

narrator: Because without money on the line,

most folks would not come up with a design like this.

We were sitting around talking and he said,

"whatever salesman designs my pool, there's a $500 bonus."

so I whip out a napkin and I sketch out this "r."

and I'm thinking, "well, this'll be something for jr's ego."

obviously, our last name is richards,

but I also like to think of it

as our place is called the "river ranch."

he drew it out on a napkin. He said, "what about this?"

and I go, "that's perfect."

and he went and built the pool, but I never got the $500.

♪♪

there was a point right when I dug the pool,

she came outside.

And she saw it on a napkin.

She had no idea the size and scope of the pool.

But after it was dug, she was freaking out about

how big it was.

And I was wanting to make it even bigger.

No matter what it is, if he's gonna do it,

he's gonna do it big.

This pool is 330 perimeter feet.

It's 3,000 square feet.

It's 130,000 gallons.

This pool is about six times larger than a normal pool.

Jonathan: The first thing that you really see is this beautiful island

in the middle that kind of invites you into the pool.

The island alone is 28 feet long and 16 feet wide.

The island is as big as a normal pool.

Jonathan: One of the most amazing features of the island

is that there's seating all the way around it.

There's also spa jets all the way around that you can adjust

so you can get a massage.

So not only is it one of the biggest pools in texas,

it's also the biggest hot tub in the united states.

Aah!

One of the most exciting things about this big "r" pool --

not only is it four pools in one,

a pool that is big in scale and has so many features,

but it's so incredibly inviting.

We entertain quite a bit,

and we especially enjoy entertaining with our family.

It's peaceful, and everyone can just relax

and have a good time here.

-You having fun, jenny? -Yeah.

[ laughs ]

can't ask for anything better.

♪♪

even if it's outside of the pool or inside the pool,

there's just plenty of places to hang out

and, like, sunbathe and relax.

♪♪

we just have a great time,

and the kids just enjoy everything.

I just have a lot of memories with this pool,

and all my friends always seem to come over

and just be completely amazed.

There's a bunch of stuff to do. You never get bored.

♪♪

it's always fun to build something

and see it come to life.

It was everything I wanted in a pool.

Whoa!

♪♪

narrator: These folks had enough with the long lines

at the adventure parks... [ screaming happily ]

...And built one of their own right in their own backyard.

Through the power of imagination,

they created an unforgettable experience

for their friends... Whoa!

...And whole family to enjoy.

♪♪