Fly over some cities and watch the glare flash back from the backyard pools in every direction. Fly over Seattle and see even more water, but almost all of it is ocean or lake. Maybe that's why we don't have a surplus of pools. Maybe people don't want to swim in the rain - something about getting wet. They're here, though. Here are six sweet swimming pools with houses to match.
↑ The office has room for more than one desk and comes equipped with a whiteboard - something definitely more functional than ornamental. The shop looks like it could be the hub of a small woodworking business. The exercise room is big enough and well enough equipped to keep a pro athlete busy. This 4 bedroom, 4.1 bath, 7,754 square foot house is so serious that it definitely needs to the balance of a master bedroom that takes up one wing of the house, and a pool that's just waiting for someone to dive in and start swimming laps, or maybe relaxing. You can get a lot for $4,500,000.
↑ One might expect a $5,750,000 house would be big enough to be its own country club, and this one is, as well as being in a country club setting. It is only 0.42 acres, but is sits along a fairway, not a freeway, has 6 bedrooms, 5.5 baths, and 9,180 square feet. It looks like a French Chateau, but it's in Broadmoor. The pool is in a walled enclave, so privacy ensured (except for pesky peasants flying pesky drones), so you can entertain uninterrupted or go skinny dipping at home.
↑ Luxury is having lots of choices. This $5,495,000 estate has 1.545 acres and 200 feet of waterfront on the Sound. It also has a beautifully landscaped and hardscaped pool with shrubbery and flagstones decorating a relaxing outdoor setting. The house has 5 bedrooms, 4 baths, and 5,940 square feet; so there must be a lot to do inside, too. Swim in saltwater. Swim in freshwater. Or, maybe just be massaged in a jetted tub. It is almost as if the house is defined by its water.
↑ You could live in a house from the era of The Great Gatsby, and that hasn't lost that style and elegance. This 1929 William Bain Tudor has 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths and 5,460 square feet with an asking price of $3,888,000. The interior is marvelous, of course, with design elements in doorways, window frames, archways, fixtures, and mantels; but they didn't have air conditioning back then, did they. They do have, however, a pool surrounded by brick and iron fencing that reminds us of a time when pools weren't hidden and were part of the landscaping.
↑ Some homes are built and decorated for summer living, even in Seattle. The colors are lighter. The windows open wider. A rare few even have air conditioning. This $1,588,000 house in Windermere has all that; and of course, a pool that completes the feeling. It also has 4 bedrooms, 3.1 baths and 4,310 square feet; but statistics may not seem nearly as important if we find ourselves in a hot dry summer. Not that that would ever happen here.
↑ Yes! It is possible to find a house with an in-ground pool for less than a million. This home in Genesee has an asking price of $640,000 for 4 bedrooms, 1.75 baths and 2,340 square feet. It also has just gone through a series of upgrades and remodels so you'll have less to worry about. The lot is only 4,791 square feet (smaller than almost all of the other houses), which is taken up by house, landscaping, and swimming pool. There's that much less lawn to mow, and that much more time to spend in the pool. Imagine that, owning a pool and having the time to enjoy it because you didn't have to work so hard to get and keep it.
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Written by Tom Trimbath