Today's pool houses are a true home away from home.

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These days, when you use the term “pool house” you need to put the emphasis on the second word.

Once modest structures designed to house pumps, chemicals and the other paraphernalia of backyard pools, pool houses have blossomed of late. Full-on kitchens with granite countertops, living areas that sport fireplaces and sound systems, even guest bedrooms: fantasize it and you can likely have it.

Studio 853’s Chantale Charette says she “totally gets” the ambitious outdoor living desires of her clients. The Ottawa-based interior and landscape designer has produced some drop dead-gorgeous pool houses, in many cases for clients who don’t want to bother with the commuting and maintenance of cottage ownership.

“They want the pool house to be a place where they can feel as comfortable as possible with all the amenities,” she says. “It’s a place to really punch out even when they’re at home, where they can cook, put the television on, spend the rest of the evening there. They’re super busy, and it’s a way to be at home with the family.”

She points to one such amenity-laden project. At roughly 1,100 square feet — larger than the average new home built in the 1950s, according to the U.S. National Association of Home Builders — the post-and-beam structure includes an outdoor kitchen with touches like coconut shell panels in the upper cabinet doors, a living room with stone fireplace, television and sound system, a full bathroom with a carved-stone vessel sink, and a spa area.

A glass-roofed walkway between the living area and the storage/mechanical room leads to a tennis court, while mature trees along with the wood and natural stone cladding of the structure give the entire setting a distinctly outdoor feel.

Charette acknowledges that such a large structure wouldn’t fit in most smaller backyards unless it were attached to the main house. But attaching it would be counterproductive because it would negate the sense of separation from everyday life that pool houses are meant to foster.

Landscape architect Gino J. Aiello says he likes to get the architect of the residence, or someone sympathetic to its architecture, involved in the design of pool houses. “Sometimes we tie in the design completely with the main house, and sometimes we make it part of the landscape, more woody.”

In one case, for example, he created a wood-and-stone-clad pool house to contrast with the stone and brick house. Both buildings use the same stone to create continuity along with the contrast, and the wood of the cabana affords it the linked-but-separate feel that Charette mentions.

Prices vary widely for pool houses, Aiello says. “Usually you’re looking at $50,000 and up. Everything is expensive these days.”

You don’t have to hire a professional to have a pool house with more allure than a shed-style kit offered at your local big-box store.

Toronto-based Summerwood Products sells 17 different styles of pre-fab cabanas ranging from 35 to almost 1,100 square feet. Prices for the products, which are basically shells to which you add details and features like plumbing or wiring, start as low as $2,195. The buildings are installed on concrete slabs, you can customize the design, and the company ships across North America.

“They’re like a big outdoor dining room where you can sit out next to the pool and entertain all night instead of everyone going back to the house,” says Summerwood’s John Hickey. He says the cabanas are also in demand as everything from artist studios to granny suites.

Pawel Fiett of Atelier 292 Architect in Ottawa says there are several things to keep in mind if you’re considering a pool house. Among them: “The position is very important. It’s an opportunity to create an oasis, but (the seating) may be looking back at the house.” Exterior acrylic or other panels that are lit at night and greenery are ways of breaking the visual connection with the house and maintaining that oasis feeling.

Fiett says to also check with your municipality about building permits, zoning and setbacks before considering a pool house. In the City of Ottawa, any detached “accessory building” over 10 square metres, including pre-fabricated ones, requires a building permit.

You should also advise your insurance company about the new structure.

Michael Willis of Roger Willis Contracting, a pool and pool house design/installation company in Kars, says he’s seen a definite uptick in the pool house business. “People have busy jobs and they want a relaxing space to come home to.”

However, says Willis, don’t stint on proper planning for a pool house. It will cost money — engineering drawings, for example, can run $1,500 to over $3,000 — but you’ll know for sure what you’re getting into instead of suddenly encountering cost overruns or design disappointments midway through the project.

He also suggests asking your designer for full renderings of the pool house. They will give you a good sense of what the finished product will look like and where you might want to make changes.

And if you don’t have room for that dream pool house? Charette suggests you consider hiving off some space at the rear of your home and adding retractable doors. You could even do that on a terrace. “At least then you can migrate to the back of the house and have that synergy between inside and outside.”

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