The Infinity Pool

03/19/2024

REJUVENATING THE OLIVE GROVE: OUR FIRST OLIVE HARVEST

A key appeal of moving into Villa Tramontalba was to change our lifestyle, live the Tuscan dream and also take the opportunity to become olive

Big changes in our garden

On taking over the keys to our new dream home, the previous owner gave me a friendly warning to be careful how many tasks I

Our first weeks & months in Italy

Having taken the plunge and bought our dream home in Italy it was time to move in. Having moved house several times over the years,

Finding our dream house in Tuscany (Building our new life in Tuscany)

Having decided we are going to make the move and turn our dream into reality, it was time to get down to work. One of

We are nearing the infinity pool completion now, and are fully on track to have it ready well in time for the rental season, so it’s nice to look back at the preparation and early stages of this major investment:

“What better way to take full advantage of the spectacular views at Villa Tramontalba than building an infinity pool?” we thought. And so we did. But it wasn’t always so simple.

We first started planning the pool even before the house had been signed for, so in late 2022. “Sure, it can be ready by the summer”. “It will probably only cost 30-50k”. Promises, promises.
15 months later, and with the actual spend multiple times higher than the original numbers being thrown around, we are now nearing completion of our dream pool. And it was 100% all worth it.

The core design elements have always been clear:
– spectacular infinity pool to allow us to take in the best of the panoramic view
– long enough pool to make swimming lengths enjoyable (we settled for 11.5m)
– close enough to the house to make it convenient for all and safe for watching the kids
– a lovely solarium area for chilling on sun loungers, in a hammock, or however we like, whatever the time of day. Pure relaxation.

As you can see from the picture blog from start to date, the pool really has taken shape in the last months and we are now approaching the final push.
Reinforced concrete has just been poured for the solarium / patio area. Pump station and water tank will be installed in the next days and then we are almost ready with the pool itself.
In fact the last stage before final completion is the fitting of the pool liner which needs warmer temperatures, so that will take place some time in April when it’s that bit warmer than now. So we are ready well in advance of that. So now, in the meantime, we are focusing on completing the patio / solarium area, laying the natural stone paving, gravel and starting the planting in the recreational areas. Add to that the fitting of a new outdoor shower, lighting and finishing touches, there is certainly still a lot do be done, but at our own pace.

We can’t wait to be able to set out the sun loungers and hammocks, pour ourselves a well-deserved glass of white (or red) and soak in a few hours of Tuscan sun at the side of our new pool. Heaven.

Fancy joining us? Of course you do . . .