By Misty White Sidell

The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is changing colors. First it was refinished in a punchy shade of navy that President Trump has called "American-flag blue," and then it turned bright green, due to a thick coat of algae.

Pools are also changing colors in backyards across the country, but often in ways that reflect regional distinctions.

These days, Americans are trying out a range of pool colors and styles that extend far beyond typical cerulean shades, sometimes incorporating features like glow-in-the-dark pebbles or firebowls that appear to float on the water's surface. Others are intentionally paring their pools back to minimal basics.

Homes have become a more important marker of personal style in recent years -- particularly for those who pay attention to social media. Those platforms have also accelerated the spread of design trends, creating echo chambers of shared taste that increasingly show up in homes across the country. As a result, pool typologies are clustered in certain geographic areas.

In the country's most affluent enclaves -- from Palm Beach, Fla., to Southampton, N.Y. -- pools are being built to blend in as much as possible. For homeowners and their landscape designers in these areas, one pool color has been deemed the most refined choice: a drab shade of gray.

Gary King, a designer for Nantucket Pools, said gray is chosen for nearly all of the pools he designs on the Massachusetts island. In the Hamptons, a gray pool can be found in the backyard of Lasata, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' childhood summer home, which in 2023 was purchased by fashion designer Tom Ford for $52 million, as well as the former Sag Harbor mansion of star interior designer Steven Gambrel.

Gray helps a pool better blend in with its surroundings, said Dallas, Texas-based landscape designer Melissa Gerstle, who said she and her clients almost always go gray. "We are not trying to make the water some sort of gaudy, unnatural color," she said, noting that she prefers warm, mid-gray shades. "It makes the water a more neutral color."

Some homeowners in South Florida are paying millions to make their pools practically disappear. Florida landscape designer Fernando Wong said a growing number of clients are requesting hydraulic floors that -- with the push of a button -- rise to become a leveled extension of the surrounding patio. Costing more than $1 million, the feature has become among the most expensive pool covers available.

As a developer, the President has overseen the construction of numerous pools. But many of them -- such as the one at Mar-a-Lago -- are much lighter than the deep hue he has chosen for the National Mall's pool, which he has called "a swimming pool on steroids."

Swimming pool colors typically aren't paint, but shades mixed into the basin's plaster. The Lincoln Memorial pool's much-debated shift to American flag blue was applied with a custom-ordered hue of a commercial-grade spray-on chemical lining called Rhino Linings Pipeliner 5000, according to Atlantic Industrial Coatings, the Virginia-based company responsible for the renovation.

In a comment to The Wall Street Journal, White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said that the President's "construction expertise informed every decision," of the reflecting pool's renovation, including its new shade of blue, which she said is "not just a patriotic choice; it actually enhances the pool's reflective quality," compared with the previous gray concrete, which "made debris ugly and far more visible."

Early this week, the algae that has long plagued the reflecting pool had returned and made it appear bright green, as if it were part of the Emerald City in "The Wizard of Oz." A spokesperson for the Department of the Interior said Monday that due to the deployment of "advanced nanobubbler technology," the pool's algae "is dead and being vacuumed up as we speak."

American-flag blue may have some fans in California's Coachella Valley, where homeowners toward the valley's interior tend to opt for pools with a punch of color, like dark blue and aquamarine, as well as jazzy features like water jets and fire bowls, said Nicholas Negrete, owner of AquaDestiny Pools in Palm Springs. Pools with these extra features can cost up to 20% more, he said, but are often financed.

By contrast, owners in the Western part of the valley, in resort towns such as Palm Desert, tend to choose light-blue, white or sand-colored pools with more minimal finishes, Negrete said.

About an hour's drive away in Riverside, Calif., Gus Aragon, the owner of PrimeTime Pool Plastering, said he is seeing many of his clients choose colorful pools with inlays like rainbow-glass beads or glow-in-the-dark pebbles. "They are more into the fun stuff," he said, noting that pools with these types of features can cost up to $150,000. The popularity of these flourishes may have snowballed due to social media; installation videos for this type of pool have helped Aragon's company go viral, he said, earning nearly 1 million combined TikTok, Facebook and Instagram followers.

However, Aragon said homeowners in pricier areas closer to the beach often prefer a sleeker, modern look, which can cost up to $400,000. "They want a sexy-looking pool, not a fun pool," he said.

In some parts of the country, pools black as the night sky have become popular -- but they aren't allowed everywhere. The look appeals to homeowners seeking a contemporary character, said Kimberly Swenson, a designer for Houston-based Limitless Custom Pools and Backyards. But Swenson said she can only install black pools in the suburbs: the finish is not allowed in the city of Houston for both safety and sanitation reasons. In numerous states, blackout pools are only allowed in residential areas, but not for commercial use.

While just a few shades off, midnight-blue tones similar to the reflecting pool in D.C. are allowed, Swenson said.

Dark pools, she said, can conceal some unwanted local visitors: frogs, crocodiles and snakes. She said they also harbor another kind of risk : falling in. As Swenson said: "You don't want your husband to have too much to drink and you can't find him."

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 17, 2026 14:00 ET (18:00 GMT)

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