When Colleen and Jim Meigs
first contemplated renovation of their house, there
was no such thing as the Endless Pool. That
was in 1978, when they bought the 1930-vintage structure
in the Colonia Solana neighborhood of Tucson, Arizona.
With many of the stucco, tile, and wooden-beam features
of traditional Santa Fe pueblos — Jim, himself
an architect, calls the genre "Sonoran Pueblo
Revival" — the project provided ample latitude
for design creativity. But with their busy schedules,
plus the size of the house (three bedrooms, three
baths, a garage, studio, and separate guest quarters),
home improvements had always been piecemeal until
the producers of This Old House
expressed interest in featuring the Meigs on the popular
public TV show.
Clearly, spreading the project out over
two decades has had its advantages. The owners had
once gone so far as to dig a pit for a hot tub, never
installed, but something better came along in the
form of the Endless Pool. Colleen, tired of traveling
to a health club several miles away, had originally
been the most enthusiastic proponent of the Endless
Pool, now located on a refurbished patio adjacent
to the expanded master bedroom.
"Then, for no particular reason, I decided to
give it a try about two months after we first got
the Endless Pool up and running," says Jim, who
once swam competitively but had switched to cycling
for exercise. "I've become an addict. There's
nothing like swimming 20 minutes, then taking a steam
and a shower. You feel like a million bucks."
If you'd like to own a copy of this
program on videotape, WGBH in Boston offers it for
$25. You can purchase it by calling 800-255-9424 and
asking for This Old House Program #1625.
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