pool in the courtyard

One of the things that attracted us to this house is the pool in the middle of the courtyard surrounded by the house. For some reason the idea of having a completely private pool in the middle of the house was really intriquing to me. One of the problems however, with the existing pool was that it was raised up about 24" above grade and therefore killed much of the space of the courtyard. Once we realized that the plumbing was all bad and the plaster would need to be replaced, we made the decision to replace the pool completely. After much debate we decided to keep the "new" pool in the old location. Part of the thinking here is that if we did so, the cost would be less because the hole would already be partially existing. This thinking proved to be false. The pool cost every bit as much as a fresh new pool with a fresh new hole. Still not sure why or how this is, but it is. Above is a sequence of photos that show the progression of the pool up to today. As of this evening the new tile has been placed at the edges of the pool and around the hot tub. This is an exciting event simply because the pool has been in a stagnant state for quite some time and now we are seeing some movement.