By Sarah Paynter / Photography by Amir Hamja for WSJ
At his 30th college reunion, Michael Barach felt so stiff and achey that he had to sit while old friends stood and greeted each other. Deciding that he was "too young to be sort-of infirmed," he returned to his Massachusetts home and started swimming daily laps in his outdoor pool. It cured his body aches.
"I swam every day that summer," says Barach, a retired venture capitalist in his 60s. "Then, summer ended."
When the weather turned cold, he started using an indoor pool at a local gym, but found it too crowded. Ultimately, he decided to build an addition on his Middlesex County home with an indoor pool. He paid about $50,000 for a SwimEx exercise pool, plus $170,000 for the structure around it.
Now he does laps everyday in the 86-degree indoor pool, regardless of the season. He feels better than he has in decades, he says.
Having a private swimming pool used to be considered the ultimate luxury. Now, a growing number of wealthy homeowners have not just one pool, but both indoor and outdoor pools. The demand for multiple pools -- especially in colder climates -- increased during the pandemic, when homeowners wanted more wellness amenities in their homes, industry insiders said.
"A lot of people's mindset post-Covid conceived of the home as a sanctuary," said Feras Irikat of the pool-industry education program Genesis. "The wellness mindset really drove people to look for more ways to either exercise, detach, meditate or relax."
In March, a Boulder, Colo., home with indoor and outdoor pools went on the market for $29.75 million, and in nearby Vail, a home listed for $78 million has an indoor pool and four outdoor pools. "A property with dual pools inherently signals exclusivity, resort-style living, and year-round recreation," said Tye Stockton of Compass, the listing agent for the Vail property.
The desire for both indoor and outdoor swimming pools is nothing new: Around 100 A.D., the Roman lawyer Pliny the Younger had both an indoor and an outdoor pool at his country house, according to the book "Shifting Currents" by Karen Carr. The famed Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C., was built with an indoor pool in the 1890s and got an outdoor pool in the 1920s, while circa-1930s Hearst castle in San Simeon, Calif., has both indoor and outdoors pools.
Until recently, however, homes like these were outliers. Historically, indoor pools have been less popular than outdoor pools, Irikat said, because homeowners didn't see as much use for them. Moreover, indoor pools can develop air-quality and humidity problems without proper ventilation, impacting the home's air and sometimes even the integrity of the structure around the pool, according to Chris Farlow, an instructor at the Pool and Hot Tub Alliance. Indoor pools are also typically more expensive than outdoor pools, requiring heating, cooling, ventilation and dehumidification systems that cost tens of thousands of dollars, according to the Indiana-based pool company River Pools.
But in recent years, more wealthy homeowners have started opting for both types of pools. About 15 years ago, Kevin Akey of Michigan's AZD Architects designed his first house with both indoor and outdoor pools, Akey said. Since then, he has done about three more. Rick Chafey, co-founder of Red Rock Design Build in Arizona, said he also worked on his first house with both pool types about 15 years ago, and has done about six others since then.
Barach and his wife, Donna Barach, bought their Massachusetts house for roughly $2.2 million in 2000. Planning to have children, they installed the outdoor pool on the 5-acre property two years later, paying about $60,000 or $70,000 for the pool and about $200,000 for the surrounding landscaping, hardscaping and cabana. Their family eventually included two sets of twins, and they frequently host pool parties for their children and their friends.
When Michael started swimming for exercise, he often did laps while the children played around him. In winters at the gym pool, he found he had to wait in line and share his lane with another swimmer. Then it occurred to him, "Why not do an indoor pool?" Located next to the Barachs' home office, the room containing the pool has an industrial-strength dehumidifier and ventilation to maintain air quality.
Outdoor pools typically cost $100,000 to $150,000, and indoor pools $200,000 to $250,000, according to River Pools, but either type can cost millions. Homeowners can typically expect to pay about $1,800 to $3,600 a year per pool for maintenance, said Stephen Little, founder of California's Claropool.
The demand for pools -- particularly outdoor pools -- skyrocketed when homeowners were trapped at home during the pandemic, and properties with pools have continued to sell for a premium, said real-estate agent Frank D. Isoldi of Coldwell Banker Realty in Westfield, N.J. Sometimes, instead of opting for two pools, homeowners install indoor-outdoor pools with retractable walls that can be closed in the winter, or outdoor pools with covers that allow them to be used in all weather.
Often it is homeowners in colder climates who choose to have both kinds of pools. Eric Eichmann, CEO of the software company ESW, bought a Montclair, N.J., home with an indoor pool in 2016. Eric and his wife, Tatiana Eichmann, paid about $2.5 million for a Tudor home and gave it a roughly $5 million renovation. At first, they considered getting rid of the basement's indoor pool, which was in poor condition. They wished the property had an outdoor pool instead, said Tatiana, 55, who owns a horse farm in Hunterdon County, N.J.
Ultimately, Tatiana said, they decided to add an outdoor pool and keep the indoor pool because it would allow year-round exercise. She, Eric, and their 20- and 23-year-old daughters are "very, very conscious of staying healthy, staying fit and being active all the time," she said. "And in winter, it can be a challenge."
They spent about $100,000 to install an outdoor saltwater pool on the 1.8-acre lot, and $50,000 to $80,000 modernizing the indoor pool with the help of interior designer Birgitte Pearce, completing the renovation in 2020.
The outdoor pool is the site of barbecues and parties -- the Eichmanns like to make poolside mojitos. "It's the real entertainment venue," said Tatiana. This spring, the outdoor pool was used in a film shoot for the Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein Netflix film, "Office Romance."
The indoor pool is mostly used for exercise, especially by Eric, 58, who recently had a shoulder replacement, his wife said.
The Eichmanns are now building a new home on the horse farm, and Tatiana is lobbying for indoor and outdoor pools -- or at least an indoor-outdoor pool. "The only thing we'll do different[ly] is have a bigger pool," she said.
Having multiple pools doesn't necessarily add to a home's value when it's time to sell, real-estate agents said. But if the pools are part of a package of high-end wellness amenities, they can help attract buyers looking for a resort feel.
Multiple pools "attract a niche buyer," said real-estate agent Libby McKinney-Tritschler of William Raveis in Connecticut. "So the investment pays off only if the rest of the property supports that level of luxury."
Matthías Jónsson and his partner, Michelle Gao, weren't necessarily looking for multiple pools when they set out to buy their first home together in New Jersey last year. But when they saw a Mendham home with indoor and outdoor pools, they considered it a benefit.
"I grew up being really attached to pools," Jónsson said. He and Gao, both 29, work in finance.
The couple bought the house for $1.6 million in May 2024. They paid about $15,000 for a new heater and filter for the indoor pool, which they use several times a week. Jónsson swims for exercise and stress relief, and Gao's father, who lives nearby, also swims frequently.
They never got around to opening the outdoor pool last summer, since they were busy moving and renovating the house. They plan to open it this summer after repainting it and clearing debris.
In the 1990s, Alex and Ann-Marie Vella paid $650,000 for a home on 5 acres in Chester Township, N.J. The circa-1966 home was built with indoor and outdoor pools. The couple spent $500,000 restoring the six-bedroom Midcentury Modern house over the years, redoing the concrete on both pools.
A few years ago, they replaced the stucco ceiling above the indoor pool, which had been damaged by humidity, and installed a new ventilation system. The cost was about $35,000. "I tend to block that out," laughed Alex, founder of the marketing company Vamcom.
The couple, who are in their 80s, have listed their home for $2.3 million. With their two sons grown, they plan to spend more time traveling, they said.
Aside from the cost of maintenance and repairs, the Vellas said they enjoyed having both types of pools. When their sons were younger, they hosted year-round parties for their friends. The only problem with owning multiple pools, Alex quipped, is becoming too popular of a host.
"You can't say no to people who want you to host parties," Alex said. "No complaints there -- it's just a way of life."
Write to Sarah Paynter at Sarah.paynter@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 06, 2025 20:00 ET (00:00 GMT)
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