Woodland Pool: A 1920s Summer House Blends into the Berkshire Forest

Moss Ledge, a 1920s L-shaped summer house in the Berkshire Mountains, sits amid second-growth pines, maples, and oaks. The owners tasked Brooklyn’s O’Neill Rose Architects with integrating a pool and garden into the woodlands. “We wanted the pool to feel like a natural part of the garden, and the garden part of the larger natural setting,” says Devin O’Neill. The result is a seamless transition from pool patio to garden to forest.

Siting the Pool

The pool location was chosen to minimize tree removal—only two trees were cut, one relocated. Two towering pines at the pool’s head became a celebrated vertical element. Bluestone pavers surround the pool; Irish moss and thyme soften the joints.

Planting Palette

Avid gardeners, the owners planted hostas, rhododendrons, mountain laurel, and a cut-leaf Japanese maple. Cultivated flowers give way to native mountain laurel and rhododendron, softening the woodland edge. A former tractor garage became a mudroom with a potbelly stove—cool and shady for watching swimmers.

Details That Blur Boundaries

Black Mexican river rocks interspersed between pavers and mossy plantings. The heated saltwater pool (gunite, dark gray) is used from early spring to late fall. An underwater bench at the shallow end lets bathers sit and read. “The formal geometry of the bluestone is softened by Irish moss and thyme, and interweaves with the garden at its edges,” O’Neill notes.

A site plan shows the pool’s proximity to the woods—a deliberate blurring of zones that makes the cultivated space feel like a natural clearing.