This Pummerlos Road backyard in Queen Creek sits on an open lot with long views, so the build was kept low and wide to work with the horizon rather than against it.

The freeform pool has a soft, irregular edge with a Baja shelf at the shallow end. Along the far side, a raised stacked stone wall carries a sheer descent waterfall over a bench with a face of blue glass mosaic tile, topped at each end by a hammered copper fire bowl on a stone pedestal.

Travertine pavers ring the pool in a wide, continuous deck. Beyond it the landscaping stays low plantings and gravel, so nothing competes with the view out past the ranch fencing.

At sunset the two fire bowls and the lit waterfalls line up across the back of the pool, which is when this yard does its best work.