Countryside Collective
Shakopee, MN
Completed 2025
“The craftsmenship is VERY evident in the work you did. BRAVO.” – NARI
“Unbelievably professional and on time. Thanks again!”
The Countryside Collective project transformed an empty backyard into a luxurious retreat, centered around a swim-up bar inspired pool and custom water features. A sunken pool house, hot tub, and bubbling rock elements create a layered, immersive experience, complemented by a cozy fire and lounge area.
Turf squares add playful texture, while porcelain pool decking stays cool underfoot. Strategically placed aspen trees and other plantings provide visual interest in every season. This design balances elegance, entertainment, and relaxation—a backyard perfect for gathering, unwinding, and enjoying the countryside.
Before & 3D Rendering
TA-DA!
Designed by Heather Sweeney
Behind the Design
Design Notes
Before
It began as an empty backyard — a stamped-concrete pad, a wide lawn, and a big extended family with nowhere to gather. They asked for a pool that could hold everyone, shelter from the sun and the mosquitoes, a hot tub they could actually reach in January, and one more thing: make it playful.
The Idea
Instead of fighting the slope, the design sank the pool house into it — so it reads like a swim-up bar, one natural step down from the water. And it sits exactly centered on the main house, so the whole scene greets you the moment you walk in the front door.
After
Now the porcelain deck stays cool underfoot while turf squares quietly swallow the rainwater. Screens drop at dusk against the mosquitoes, fountains soften the evening for the neighbors, and when the first snow lands on the standing-seam roof, the hot tub is three warm steps away. A backyard oasis for gathering, unwinding, and enjoying the countryside.
The Brief
- —A pool built for entertaining a large extended family
- —Seamless indoor–outdoor flow
- —Shelter from sun and mosquitoes without losing the view
- —A hot tub steps from the main house — usable in a Minnesota winter
- —Easy-care materials, casual-modern style, playful spirit
Materials & Craft
- Large-format European porcelain tile decking
- Synthetic turf over concealed drainage tile
- Automated screen system
- Natural stone pillars · standing-seam metal roof
- Aspens, boxwood, evergreens & allium for four-season structure
01
The swim-up pool house
The pool house is sunken into the existing grade so it reads like a swim-up bar — and it sits centered on the main house, so the view greets you the moment you walk in the front door.
02
Drainage you will never see
The turf squares between the pavers are not decoration — drainage tile hides beneath the synthetic turf, moving water invisibly so the deck needed no strip drains at all.
03
A deck that stays cool
Large-format European porcelain tile keeps the pool deck cool underfoot and reads sleek and modern — each oversized tile precision-graded so nothing wobbles.
04
Built for every season
Automated screens drop for mosquito and weather protection, the sunken hot tub stays reachable in January, and fire and water features carry the space deep into fall. The fountains even soften voices for the neighbors at night.
The hard part
The vinyl pool had to sit close enough to the pool house foundation to earn the swim-up feel, far enough to protect the structure — with roof snow-shed mapped so it could never land on the pool cover. Precision grading held every oversized tile to an eighth-inch-per-foot slope.
🏆 NARI Minnesota 2025 Remodeler of the Year — Regional Winner · Residential Landscape Design / Outdoor Living
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