THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 5, 1996 TAG: 9605030051
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEANNE MOONEY, SPECIAL TO HOME & GARDEN
LENGTH: Long : 145 lines
JULIE AND DR. RON Frenkel bought a home on Linkhorn Bay so they could play and ski on the water.
But little critters sometimes crowd them out.
``The jellyfish are horrendous,'' Julie Frenkel says. They are as big as dinner plates.
The Frenkels live about five minutes from the ocean. Five minutes from the sand Julie Frenkel dislikes so much. Five minutes from the undercurrents she worries could threaten her four children.
What to do?
Skip the fuss and bring the water world home. The Frenkels built a pool, installed a spa and enclosed it all in their Virginia Beach home.
Now they swim all year long. ``We're in it six nights out of seven,'' Julie Frenkel says. ``And Saturday and Sunday during the day.''
So long, Mr. Jellyfish.
The Frenkels are part of a trend that pool and spa retailers say is happening nationwide. The trend is called cocooning. It's about feathering your nest, making your home a haven from the rat race and a place of fun and family togetherness. Pools, spas, decks and accessories are part of the phenomenon.
Bill Savidge, vice president of McBroom Great Atlantic, a Virginia Beach retailer of spas and above-ground pools, put it this way:
Family time is stretched thin nowadays. Dad or Mom or both have to work late. Little Johnny has three sports in one season to play after school. And Sis has her own busy agenda.
So when does the family unwind? Where do they get together?
At the pool or spa, Savidge will tell you.
So will Julie Frenkel. ``We're very family-oriented,'' she says. ``The children are the center of our lives.''
The Frenkels throw pool parties. They swim on Christmas Day and at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesdays if they want. At night, after the children go to bed, Julie and Ron climb into their spa and watch TV. They take turns in the reclining seat and let water gush over their backs.
Friends and relatives call the Frenkel's home Resort and Spa Frenkel. And colleagues of Ron Frenkel, who is an ophthalmologist, hope he and his family take a sabbatical. Soon. And far away. They want to live in his house.
``We just laugh,'' Julie Frenkel says. ``We love to stay at home. We're trying to make it everything we want.''
What residents of South Hampton Roads want in pools and spas are as varied as the options.
Want a butterfly-shaped pool? How about an airplane-shaped pool? Maybe you'd prefer the profile of an amoeba or a gun.
If you've got the back yard, retailers have a pool for you. One hitch, though: only in-ground pools come in unique shapes.
Steve Rotch, area manager for a Norfolk pool supply distributor, is helping one resident put in a tennis racket-shaped pool.
``Somebody just wants a look,'' Rotch says.
Part of the pizzazz of an in-ground pool lies in the decking. Most in-ground pools are surrounded with a plain concrete patio, says Michael Shammas, co-owner of Aegean Pools Inc. in Chesapeake. But there are many options.
Pool owners can choose from a smooth stucco-like finish, exposed aggregate, or stamped concrete. These specialty decks cost $5 to $7 a square foot, Shammas says. Pavers - interlocking bricks and slate - cost more.
``We don't recommend wood decks around in-ground pools,'' Shammas says. ``(They) get slippery when wet.''
Buyers of in-ground pools are favoring diving boards less and shallow pools more, Rotch says.
Shammas agrees. Three out of every 10 pools he sells are shallow pools with depths of 5 to 6 feet.
Why the interest in shallower pools? Shammas thinks it's because people are more interested in water sports and less interested in diving.
Maybe you'd prefer an above-ground pool. Prices start under $2,000. Above-ground pools typically come in round, oval and rectangular shapes at depths of 48 inches or 52 inches.
The deeper pools are needed when someone wants to install a slide. Savidge hopes they won't.
``We're just not advocates of putting slides and diving boards in,'' Savidge says. ``It's just a huge liability.''
You can have an above-ground pool and wrap a ``pretty extravagant'' treated-wood deck around it for $8,000 to $10,000, Savidge says. That's still less than the price of an in-ground pool, which usually begins around $12,000.
The people who shop for above-ground pools at Crystal Clear Pools and Spas in Chesapeake tend to be from a one-income family with younger children, says Diana Davis, co-owner.
The above-ground pool, she says, ``is something to keep the kids together and keep them entertained.''
Spa buyers tend to be married couples over 40 years old, often with two incomes and little time.
``This is something that brings them together and gives them some quality time together,'' Davis says.
People who suffer from arthritis or back pain also tend to buy spas. They typically cost $2,300 to $8,500, though spas can fetch more than $15,000.
A spa is an oversized tub with jets to makes bubbles and a heater to warm the water. Spas come in two forms: professionally installed in a deck or floor; and portable, self-contained units with tubs, motor and piping. They also come in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors.
Jeff Ellis of Virginia Beach remembers when he was shopping for a spa. His back pain flared and he had to get down on the floor of the store and do back exercises.
``I needed it immediately,'' Ellis says of a spa. He bought the showroom model.
Now you'll find Ellis soaking in his spa, looking up at the stars and the planes out of Oceana Naval Air Station most nights around 11. He swears by his spa and its pulsating, rotating and massaging water jets.
``This is the only thing, after 15 years, that I can say brings temporary relief immediately,'' says Ellis, who is 51. ``It relieves the tension and the pain.''
Ellis' daughter, Christine, also likes the spa. He remembers her first soak. The open ports nearly blew her off her seat.
``O-H-H-H, D-A-D,'' Ellis says she managed, ``T-H-I-S I-S R-E-A-L-L-Y G-R-E-A-A-A-T.''
When Ellis goes away on business trips, he is keenly aware of what he misses: his girlfriend and his dog. His back, though, tells him where he ought to be - home.
``Oh, I can't wait to hit my hot tub.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by MOTOYA NAKAMURA/The Virginian-Pilot
The Frenkel children, from left, Sarah, 9, Lisa, 1, Andrew, 6, and
Jordan, 4, enjoy a splash in the spa at their home on Linkhorn Bay
in Virginia Beach.
Virginia Beach resident Jeff Ellis soaks in his spa almost nightly
to alleviate back pain.
Builder Jack Schoch's figure-8 shaped pool has a waterfall and
fiber-optic lighting.
Photo courtesy of NATIONAL SPA AND POOL INSTITUTE
Decking and landscaping can make an above-ground pool and spa an
attractive addition to the back yard.
Photo courtesy of NATIONAL SPA AND POOL INSTITUTE
In-ground pools can be designed and built in any shape or size to
suit the owner.
by CNB