This dazzling glass-tile violin pool in Bedford, NY, is truly the first of its kind. Designed and built by Cipriano Custom Swimming Pools & Landscaping, Mahwah, NJ, the pool is an extraordinary, larger-than-life replica of a 1700s-era Stradivarius violin—in exacting detail.
One look and it’s clear to see why this amazing swimming pool design has won numerous awards, including a gold award for Exceptional Recognition in Design & Building – Concrete, Best of Competition, and People’s Choice Award from the Northeast Pool & Spa Association. The execution of this intricate and complex structure was no easy feat. We spoke to Chris Cipriano, president of Cipriano Custom Swimming Pools and Landscaping, to learn more about this musically-inspired masterpiece.
Photo courtesy of Ed Pirone
Luxury Pools: How did the idea of a violin pool come about?
Chris Cipriano: In our initial meeting with the homeowner we learned that he wanted something truly one-of-a-kind and completely customized for him. We soon found out there were limitations on the impervious coverage of the property, which meant that we could only put down so much pool and so much patio in order for the project to work. We came back to the homeowner and told him about the limitations on the property and he came up with the idea for the violin. He said, “Listen, I’m very into music, I love violins. If we do a violin pool it will give me the ability to still have a beautiful lap lane (he wanted to have at least 90 feet) and we could make something truly unique.” We went through the pros and cons of doing something so specific to his tastes and once we advised him on it, he was still willing to move forward, so then we really just ran with it from there.
LP: The pool is modeled after the homeowner’s 1700s-era Stradivarius violin. Can you explain the different details included in the design?
CC: We took every detail from that 1700 Stradivarius and incorporated it into this pool. We have the neck of the violin down to the bout. We have the f-holes, which we did in custom jet-black glass tile inlays. We have the strings, which, of course, are a huge feature of the violin. We have a chinrest to the violin, which we thought would be a great place for a spa. It really worked out well with the layout and [the client] can access the spa right from his bedroom. The purfling, which is actually an inlay veneer, is also included in the detail of the pool.
LP: What were the client’s original wishes for the project?
CC: He wanted a lot of entertaining space around the pool and off the rear of the house. He does a lot of entertaining and wanted a nice bar area, so we designed this beautiful outdoor kitchen and bar. It has a 60-inch widescreen outdoor-rated TV on a hydraulic lift which comes out of the backsplash of the outdoor kitchen. Then we built a surround sound system into the masonry structure of the outdoor kitchen/bar area. We also did radiant heating in the patios because he does a lot of grilling and wanted to be able to have access to [the outdoor kitchen] in the winter.
Also, the pool is open year-round, so the area surrounding the pool and patio have radiant heating. This way the client can come out of his room, go to the pool and not worry about having to shovel snow, and also have a moderate temperature patio.
Another thing that was important was lighting. He wanted the backyard to be engaging at night, not just in the pool itself but in the landscape. We wanted to take a minimalist approach with the night lighting, so we mounted light fixtures under the wall caps of the retaining wall between the house and pool.
You can’t really see the lights during the day, but at night they provide a beautiful visual and really light up the patio.
Photo courtesy of Bob Skinner
LP: The pool includes two Koi ponds which represent the bow of the violin. Where did this idea come from and how are the ponds incorporated into the pool?
Koi pond with fiber-optic star lighting CC: We were actually contracted to do this job before [the client] owned the home, and when I visited the house he was living in, he had a pond and lots of beautiful fish. I thought it would be nice to integrate a pond feature as part of the pool because of his love of fish, so I came up with the idea for the bow. We installed acrylic windows in the neck of the violin which allows the bather to see the fish when they’re swimming up and down the neck of the violin. The pond has 300 fiber-optic star lights in it, along with the Koi fish and lots of plant life.
Photo courtesy of Bob Skinner
LP: How did you integrate the landscape and outdoor living area with the musical theme of the pool?
CC: I had the thought of flowing music in my head and wanted to translate that into plant life. I thought, if the violin is lying on the table, why not show flowers that would be laid in unison with the violin, almost like creating an arrangement. So we have flowers that flow away from the pool and take the shape of the leaves on a flower, then we used boxwood hedging to translate the stems [of the flowers].
At the end, we have these pockets of color to show the blooms of the flower coming off the stem. Because the pool is so large, we needed some large plant material to anchor the rest of the site. We had a lot of specimen material come from our farm to supply this project, including a 30-foot by 30-foot Japanese Maple which is the main anchor piece of the backyard.
The intent was to not only make it look like a photograph or picture, but also, as you’re walking through it, to make it feel like it’s your own personal garden. We created pathways that engage the user to walk through the beautiful gardens and boxwood hedges and really see all the different textures and colors.
For instance, in the neck of the violin, where the tuning pegs would be, we have swim-outs on both sides. On the one swim-out there’s a rock path that goes through the gardens and brings you around the pond and then to the pool patio. It’s very engaging.
Photo courtesy of Ed Pirone
LP: What were the biggest challenges of this project? How were you able to overcome them?
CC: There was a lot of infrastructure upgrades that had to be done in order to make this project happen and to make sure we had power supply and communications to everything. We were working with various engineering firms, architecture firms…we had to move the septic field, so we had to get the DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) involved because of the location of the new septic field which was near isolated wetland.
As far as material was concerned, we did a lot of research on the material choices. We ended up using a dolomitic limestone which came out of Wisconsin—it’s a beautiful stone, very dense. There was such a convenience factor with this stone: On a 100-degree day the stone is manageable, you can walk on it barefoot. A lot of times it’s actually cooler than the ambient temperature just because of its reflective qualities.
There was also a lot of thought put into properly utilizing energy-efficient equipment. We did a drip irrigation system around the whole property and used moisture sensors so that we’re only utilizing what we actually need. The LED lighting is also energy efficient. For every one standard fixture you can run 10 LED fixtures. Everything [for this project] was well thought out and planned to detail.
Photo courtesy of Ed Pirone
LP: How does this project compare to pools you’ve built in the past? Did you use any new design or construction techniques, or encounter new challenges?
CC: The fiber optics were something new. I don’t know anywhere in the world where you can go and look at a glass-tile pool that has fiber optics in it. There are fiber-optic swimming pools out there that are plaster, but doing it in glass tile had a whole host of issues that had to be addressed.
Everything had to be sealed properly. We didn’t want perforations from the fiber optics to jeopardize the setting of the tile so we worked hand in hand with the glass tile company and the manufacturer of the sealant to make sure everything worked in unison.
I think going into the build, having done several glass-tile inground pools prior to this pool, we were very aware of what it was going to take to make sure that everything was correct. Glass tile is very revealing and if there’s any imperfections, it will be shown with the glass. There was a lot of preparation going into the pool shoot. Everything had a template to it—every single radius, every wall—to make sure that everything was true to form.
Photo courtesy of Ed Pirone
LP: Is there anything else you’d like to share about this project?
CC: One of my favorite features of the pool is the spa. We did a perimeter-overflow spa and there was a tremendous amount of detail that went into the glass tiles.
We did rolled edges on the interior going down to the seating, and also did rolled edges on the seats themselves. Then tying this shape together on both corners with the glass tiles—a lot of thought and a lot of time and dedication went into getting it correct.
Then the inlays are something unique in of themselves. Creating the swirls of black tile on the floor for the f-holes was just something that I was really excited about, and I think it really came out beautiful.
Photo courtesy of Ed Pirone
