Featured Project
Western Albemarle Dream Backyard
A new-build estate on a sloped wooded lot — multi-tier stone walls, an oversized porcelain pool deck, a custom stone fire pit, and zoned synthetic turf so the family can use the yard year-round without fighting the slope.
Location
Western Albemarle, VA
Project Type
Design-Build
Property
New-Build Estate
Scope
Walls · Pool Deck · Turf
First look
The rear elevation, from the property line.
A modern estate set against the woods of Western Albemarle — white siding, gable peaks, full-height stone columns, and a rectangular pool framed by porcelain and turf.
The Challenge
A dramatic slope behind a new-build estate.
The owners had just finished a modern estate on a heavily wooded lot in Western Albemarle. Beautiful site, beautiful house — but the rear yard fell away from the foundation at a grade no patio could sit on without serious engineering. They wanted a pool, a fire pit, and a place for the family to actually live outside.
Snow Knows started where every estate package starts: at the dirt. Multi-tier dry-stacked stone retaining walls were laid up to terrace the slope into a flat, usable platform — wide enough for the auto-cover pool, the porcelain deck around it, and a separate fire pit zone with its own seating.
“A backyard like this only works if the walls hold the grade and the surfaces drain properly. The pool, the patio, the fire pit — those are the visible part. The first six weeks are all engineering.”
The Snow Knows Way
The Build
From bare slope to platform.
Excavation. Compacted gravel base. Course after course of dry-stacked stone, set straight and level along the back of the property. Once the walls were up and the platform was true, the porcelain pool deck went down on a properly drained sub-base — large-format pavers laid out to wrap the auto-cover pool in a clean rectangular frame.
The Result
A true outdoor room — no slope, no mud, no maintenance.
The finished yard is a clean rectangle of porcelain wrapping a white auto-cover pool, surrounded by zoned synthetic turf and edged with a custom stone fire pit. The walls hold the grade so cleanly that the forest seems to start right at the property line.
Multi-tier
Stone Walls
Porcelain
Pool Deck
Year-round
Usable Yard
Architecture & Details
Stone, porcelain, turf, water.
Four materials, working together. Full-height stone columns anchor the rear elevation. Large-format porcelain frames the rectangle. A custom stone fire pit at the corner of the deck. And the auto-cover pool, finished in a soft white that echoes the architecture.
Walk through it
Take a stepoutside.
The finished walk from porcelain to turf to pool edge — same property, same season, no slope, no mud. The walls hold the grade so cleanly that the forest seems to start right at the property line.
Project Scope
What we designed and built.
- Multi-tier dry-stacked stone retaining walls
- Site grading and slope stabilization
- Oversized porcelain-tile pool deck (large-format pavers)
- Auto-cover rectangular pool surround
- Custom stone fire pit lounge
- Zoned synthetic-turf carpet sections
- Decorative dry creek bed with flagstone path
- Drainage, base prep, and finish landscape
More Case Studies
Other landscapes we've built.
Hillside Patio Transformation
Steep hillside reimagined as a curved paver patio with retaining walls, hot tub, and fire pit lounge.
1800s Farmhouse Pool & New Addition
From signed Snow Knows master plan to drone aerial. Modern outdoor living for an 1800s farmhouse.
Southern Albemarle Modern Farmhouse
Two zones at one hilltop new build — porcelain back patio, outdoor kitchen, mountain fire pit.
Constitution Farm — Scottsville
Heritage Scottsville estate with Williamsburg-style brick parterre — restoration in progress.
Ready to Start?
Let's talk about yourproperty.
A complimentary consultation with experienced professionals who understand how to bring lasting value and beauty to your landscape. Backed by over a century of craftsmanship.