Pacific Outdoor Living Designer
Julian Montford — Landscape Designer
Outdoor environments shaped around architecture, lifestyle, and the Southern California landscape.
About Julian
Landscape Designer at Pacific Outdoor Living
Julian has been in the landscape design industry for over 23 years. His background stems from working with a variety of pool builders and contractors across Southern California, and his projects have been built as far out as Palm Springs and San Diego as well as across the Los Angeles area.
That range shows in the work. His portfolio moves between hillside properties that need the grade solved before anything else, courtyards where the whole design happens in a few feet, and complete backyards built around a pool. Each one runs through the same Pacific Outdoor Living design-build process, so the drawings, the pricing and the crews that install it stay connected from the first site visit to the final walkthrough.
Away from the drawing board he spends his time in gardens and museums, on the golf course, and outdoors.
- Pools and spas
- Hillside and slope design
- Complete backyard renovations
- Outdoor entertaining spaces
- Small-space courtyards
Selected work
15 projects designed by Julian
Every project below was designed by Julian and built by Pacific Outdoor Living. Open any one for the plans, the before photos and how it came together.
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Boulder Creek Pool A yard that already had a dry creek and a bridge, given a freeform pool with a baja shelf, a boulder waterfall, a cedar hot tub and sauna, and a flowering meadow.
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Entertainer's Cabana A worn lawn gone through to dirt, rebuilt as a timber cabana with a full kitchen and bar, a pool and raised spa with sheer descents, and a fire table on turf-jointed concrete.
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Black Pebble Courtyard A courtyard of flagstone and lawn reset around a spa set in pale steppers with polished black river rock joints, cedar slat walls and hanging urn fountains.
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Hillside Cascade A slope above the valley turned into a three-tiered granite waterfall, bluestone flagstone with planted joints, timber steps and a dry river bed running down through the garden.
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Country Club Corral Bare dirt and patchy grass on a golf-course frontage, rebuilt as a drought-conscious modern garden with a circular concrete fire pit, core-drilled stone fountains and cobble bands that handle the drainage.
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Skyline Sanctuary A steep, unusable hillside lot terraced into one level pool deck with a raised spa, an outdoor kitchen, and the Los Angeles skyline wide open in front of it.
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Zero-Edge Chic A bare sloped yard rebuilt around a zero-edge reflecting pool, a pergola dining terrace for the shade, and clean modern paving.
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Luxury Lagoon A graded dirt slope turned into a resort-style lagoon pool with a natural rock waterfall, a raised spa and tropical planting on every side.
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Luxury Lap Pool A sloped backyard terraced into a lap-pool retreat with a raised spa, a spillway waterfall and a pergola lounge sitting out above the hillside.
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Spa Serenity A tiered backyard quieted down into a spa-first retreat, with a linear fire feature, turf-to-paver terracing and a clear look out across the valley.
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Residential Resort A big family backyard planned as a resort in miniature: rectangular pool, stone waterfall wall, covered patio, lawn and mature shade.
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Patio Paradise A tired pool yard turned into a full entertaining floor: covered dining patio, an outdoor kitchen with concrete counters, and a privacy hedge wrapped around the loungers.
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Small Space Oasis A narrow side yard fitted out with a plunge pool, a compact outdoor kitchen and covered dining — a full entertaining space in a footprint most people write off.
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Contemporary Courtyard Front and back reworked together: stone entry steps and fresh planting at the street, a spa-overflow pool and covered outdoor kitchen behind.
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Mid-Century Manor A mid-century property brought back to its own era: a refined pool with a tanning ledge, a stepping-stone spa and a crisp drought-tolerant walk out front.
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Featured project
Boulder Creek Pool
A yard that already had a dry creek and a bridge, given a freeform pool with a baja shelf, a boulder waterfall, a cedar hot tub and sauna, and a flowering meadow.
- The site
- This yard already had a landscape in it: a bridge, a dry creek, mature trees drawn with their canopies, lawn, concrete paving and an access drive. Nothing here needed inventing. The work was deciding what to carry on.
- Julian’s approach
- The yard already ran on stone and water, so the new work does too. A sixteen-by-twenty-four-foot pool sits on the upper level at three feet six and six feet deep, with a baja shelf, a retaining wall behind it, a sundeck, steps and a gravel path down to the spa. We cut a section through the scheme to confirm a pool that size would sit in a sloping yard without terracing the whole hillside.
- What was built
- Granite boulders are set into the coping, so the pool edge reads as outcrop instead of curb, over a blue-tiled interior and flagstone decking. A boulder waterfall feeds a planted stream. A gas fire bowl sits on the flagstone patio under the trees that were already there. A cedar barrel hot tub and a sauna stand on a gravel terrace. Flowering groundcover runs as meadow between the boulders, with grasses lit from below along the paths.
What homeowners say
Reviews from Pacific Outdoor Living clients
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…We met with at least four other pool builders, but POL stood out for their ability to handle every aspect of the project seamlessly, from design to construction to landscaping. Huge credit goes to our designer, Julian, for creating a layout that maximized our limited space.
Menachem Fishkin Google review · 9 months ago -
…They helped us through all the permitting and difficulties of having a hillside home and following LA pool requirements. We worked with Julian on our backyard design. He really brainstormed and listened to us and contributed so many great ideas. We hit obstacles with our design and approval process, and I really appreciated the patience, and the ability POL had to work with our design and the city and get our design approved.
L R Google review · a year ago -
The first step was that someone came out to evaluate the space, make measurements, and take photographs. These were handed off to Julian, the designer who worked with me. Julian did a great job finding out through a personal meeting what I was hoping to achieve. He offered a number of suggestions but in the end guided me towards what I wanted. He then developed high quality, detailed drawings indicating exactly what he proposed, right down to the tiles, bushes and plants, and fountain.
David Freyer Google review · 2 years ago -
Our backyard transformation into a tiki oasis by Pacific Outdoor Living was nothing short of extraordinary! Julian Montford's design expertise and Trent Morrill's impeccable coordination made this project an absolute pleasure from start to finish. The 500 square foot pavilion and tiki hut added an enchanting touch, while the refurbished built-in pool became the centerpiece of our newfound paradise. The attention to detail was impeccable, and the craftsmanship truly exceeded our expectations.
Tomas Costanza Google review · 2 years ago -
We moved into a home that had only dirt in the backyard and they transformed it! Our designer, Julian, is very professional and attentive. He listened and helped us design the perfect backyard that fit our family's needs. (Orange tree? Sure. Lemon tree? Ok! Ten rosemary bushes? Ok!) He was responsive and easy to work with, even when we changed the design a couple of times.
Kimberly Cooper Google review · 2 years ago -
We had our backyard remodeled, which included pool installation, pergola build, and driveway paving. Our designer Julian was able to create the backyard that we envisioned and our project manager Trent made sure the whole process was smooth & efficient. They finished the project within budget and even ahead of schedule. It has been almost 3 years since our backyard and driveway completed and it still looks amazing!
Jaime Wong Google review · 2 years ago
How a project runs
Designed and built by one team.
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Understand
We walk the property, listen to how you want to use it, and talk honestly about budget.
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Design
A plan drawn for your site: grade, drainage, access and planting resolved together.
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Refine and visualize
Renderings and revisions until the drawing matches what you pictured.
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Build
One team installs it, so the plan and the crew never drift apart.
Have a property Julian should see?
Tell us about the property, how you want to use it and the timeline you have in mind. We will walk it with you and talk through what is realistic before anyone draws a thing.