Case Studies: Halem Residence

The Halem residence was a complex and interesting project. The clients had purchased a home that came with a large above ground pool. The home was built on a very steep slopping hill that in its sheer height created an excellent private sanctuary in the backyard that was very separated and hidden from the main road it was located on in Westborough. But the backyards continuation of the slope made the backyard very unusable for children’s play and as a comfortable area to inhabit. The Halem’s wanted to level out the backyard in order to give their child and themselves a safer and more useable area to play and occupy. The pool was also in extreme danger of collapse due to strong erosion caused by the sloping earth.

We came into this project and designed a series of tiered retaining walls and planters that would allow the backyard to be backfilled, reshaped and leveled. The property required over 200 feet of stonewalls and in some areas needed to be as tall as 6 feet. This required a material that was not only strong structurally but as well affordable in its cost since the massive amount of stone necessary was so great. We suggested to the client the use of man-made concrete blocks. The style we found was called ‘Roman Pisa’ and though man-made it had a nice chiseled look that in many ways looked like coble stone in its rusticated surface and design. The Client loved it and we started to build. The change is shockingly evident in the before and after photos. What once was an unshaped steep back yard both hard to occupy and to enjoy; now is a haven of intricate plantings and tiered stonewalls creating a true sanctuary for the Halem’s and an excellent place for their child and his friends to play, swim and run. With the pool no longer in danger of collapse the Halem’s can enjoy it for another year or two and then they plan to remove the above ground pool and place a new one within the ground. The new pool will utilize the sweeping curves of the walls that we designed to form the shape of a new pool that mimics the surrounds it is located within.

Click on an image to enlarge it

Granite Steps and ‘Roman Pisa’ style concrete block. View of Granite Steps with ‘Roman Pisa’ Walkway and Stone walls Detail of corner of Steps and wall Curved Support wall creates a nice path around the pool. Close up of stone wall around pool Detail of Concrete block ‘Roman Pisa’ Style Backside of curved wall by pool steps down to created a beautiful planting bed. View from Deck looking down at tiered planters and pathway leading to backyard and pool View Down on Path and curved wall. On the back side of the deck there are three stepped planters creating a lovely planting area. Tiered planting beds made of Roman Pisa stone walls with new plantings. Detail of tiered planting beds looking down the long curved wall by the pool Overall shot of one side of the backyard. Shows long retaining wall in distance with new shed. Viewing looking towards large retaining wall that allowed the backyard to be level. New Shed on right. View looking along the large retaining wall towards the shed. 6 foot retaining wall in back looking up towards the pool. This wall allowed the backyard to become a level more useable surface Shot form woods looking up at retaining wall and shed Detail of large concrete block retaining wall supporting the backyard. This wall also prevented the collapse of the pool.

Halem Residence: Halem Residence: “Before and After” Photos:

Before and After shot showing the change to the steep path that came down from the deck into the strongly sloping backyard. A new more elegant tiered backyard is now created. Before and After shot showing the woods before the retaining wall and massive amounts of fill and gravel were brought in to restructure the backyard. Before and After shot showing the view from the deck.

Halem Residence: “Work in Progress” Photos:

Marty is Shoveling away the dirt to start to create the new curved support wall by the deck and the pool Marty is Hammering in the stone blocks constantly checking them for levelness Marty and Garrett are working to build the connection between the granite steps, pathway, and the curved stone wall Marty and Garrett are laying out the new pathway leading down from the deck. The Pathway and curved wall are almost complete. Finishing touches are still being added. In order to create such a beautiful design the stones all need to be cut to perfectly fit into the curved design. The new curved wall is freshly backfilled with quality soil ready for grass and plantings soon. Path by pool before all the stones are cut and placed in to finish the edges. Garrett digs out the back wall that will soon support the new ‘level’ backyard. There was a lot of manual and Machine based digging work on this part of the project. After digging is complete the base of the new structured back retaining wall is started. It is built on a strong 3 foot deep bed of compacted gravel and crushed/pulverized stone. The Dump truck is pouring in one of many loads of gravel backfill used below the soil against the retaining wall. Once the soil is brought in it is raked prior to hydro seeding the surface.

Halem Residence: “Before” Photos:

Before shot showing a view towards the deck. Note the steep slopes soon to be removed. Prior to starting the project the customer was worried about the collapse of the earth by the deck falling into the structure of the pool. View towards the woods of the steep slope leading down to the trees. View from deck of old timber style planters and steep path leading down to pool. View uphill from the woods. This view gives one an excellent idea of how close to collapse the pool was from falling down the hill. View of large old timber based planters that had decayed and were on verge of collapse.