Pool House Pittsburgh Magazine Summer 2025
Our pool house is in Pittsburgh Magazine!
The June 2025 Summer issue just came out with the story "Designer Betsy Wentz's Colorful Sewickley Pool House Is '100% Fun'" — and honestly, that headline is perfect. It IS 100% fun. It might be the most fun project I’ve ever done.
This one is personal — it’s ours. Our own family home here in Sewickley, built in the 1970s and surrounded by these beautiful century-old stone walls.
Like so many people during the pandemic, we started dreaming about a pool while we were all stuck at home. What started as a very small idea — just a small pool — morphed into a larger pool, and then into adding a pool house. Last summer we finally made it happen.
Our main house is Mid-Century Modern, but those old tumbled stone walls around the property are so special. For the pool house, we wanted it to feel like an extension of the house, not an afterthought.
So we made it very modern to match the house, but we pulled that old tumbled stone onto the exterior fireplace and then brought it inside — so the exterior stone becomes an interior wall in the living room. That one move makes the whole 800-square-foot building feel like it’s always been here.
We designed it for our family of six — Chris and our four kids ages 13 to 22 — and we wanted it to be more than just a July spot. Pittsburgh has a short pool season, but we use this space year-round as another hangout and entertaining spot. It’s always nice, as a big family, to have another place where people can go.
A few of the details Pittsburgh Magazine highlighted:
The nano wall. This is the showstopper. A full glass nano wall that opens completely to the black-bottom pool. When it’s open, it’s true indoor-outdoor living.
The terrazzo floors. We used terrazzo tile from Concrete Collaborative in California. It grounds the space in that Mid-Century Modern authenticity, but it’s also incredibly durable for wet feet and Pittsburgh winters.
The kitchenette. The pool house has a bathroom, changing room, and kitchenette anchored by a wall of stacked blue tile — my favorite colorful moment in there.
The art. Because it’s a jewel box just for us, I got to do whatever I wanted. It was so fun to play with a different palette of bright pastels. There’s a lively painting by Rob Tucker from our travels, and a vintage rug runner that had been in storage for years just waiting for the right spot.
As I told Pittsburgh Magazine, "It was such a little jewel box for me to get to do whatever I wanted there, and it was fun to have this different palette of bright pastels. It's really just 100% fun."
We head out here throughout the year, not just summer. It’s a multi-use space and has become such a favorite gathering spot.
Thank you so much to Pittsburgh Magazine and to Donna Dotan for the beautiful photography. And if you missed it, this same pool house was also featured in HGTV Magazine last summer — we’ll link that feature below.
Sources: Terrazzo by Concrete Collaborative, stacked blue tile kitchenette, glass nano wall system, century-old tumbled stone, Rob Tucker art, vintage runner
Read full article /Pittsburgh Magazine
See the Project /Pool House
Featured in Pittsburgh Magazine Summer 2025, June 2025 issue — Photography by Donna Dotan. Also featured in HGTV Magazine Summer 2024.