European Style Fountains and Water Features: Which is your Favorite?

Good morning everyone!

Who doesn't like a good water feature or fountain?  Its been so hot this summer that I could sit in one all day!

Right now the site plan is being prepared for the house.  (Psssst...if you missed our home's exterior view from the plans featured in our last post you can see it HERE.)

The site plan will show us the house placement, the pool placement, the utility placements, and the driveway placement.  Right now the plan is to have a single drive come off of the road which will lead to a circular drive in front of the main entry.  Another drive will exit the circle and head to the side load garage (if you are looking at the plan, the garage is hidden on the right side).

Now the focus is on what fountain to place in the middle of the circular driveway so plumbing can be planned.  We want it to be a main focal point while still keeping with our style of  home.

Today's images (and there are several) include sample fountains from our inspiration file.  If I have missed a credit please let me know.

CHOICE 1

This home has a great fountain sitting center stage in the circular driveway.  We also want to have enough room to plant boxwood's or roses around the fountain base to form a hedge.  The individual sprays shooting towards the center (like a crown fountain) appeal to us, but we are not sure about the two tiers emerging from the center.  Keeping the tiers clean is always a hassle at our current home, so we may want to skip those and only use water jets to create the water feature.

CHOICE 2

We took this picture while vacationing with some friends in Jamaica last year.  The property had about ten large fountains, all equally beautiful.  While I would take this fountain in a heart beat, it would look out of place in front of a French Old World style home. The fountain has four horses around the base that shoot water into the pool below.  The pond size and spacing is just right for plants and grass. I guess we will just need to visit this fountain more often!

CHOICE 3

 

 

Love this fountain with both cherub's and lion heads.  I only worry that the water might get a little too close to the edge with a good wind and run the fountain dry during the day.

CHOICE 4

This fountain got me off track and thinking in a new direction.  I was focused on having a circular driveway, but this courtyard with its drinking style fountain looks amazing.  It has a very rustic old world appeal that would match our homes style.

CHOICE 5

This fountain has several of the individual components we like all wrapped up into one. The crown jets shooting from the outer edge of the pond, an urn that overflows into a tiered basin, and a single jet shooting up in the center.

This one is not in the running for the focal point of our drive, but it was too fun not to share!  Our dog would do the same thing given the opportunity!

CHOICE 6

For a courtyard driveway this Roman pillar drinking fountain would be a great choice.  This still might get tucked into a corner near one of the two veranda's if we don't do a courtyard driveway.

CHOICE 7

Another European style drinking fountain.  I just love the color.

CHOICE 8

This is another great fountain for any style driveway.  It appears to be a modification of an old world drinking fountain.  Perhaps this was once a main water source for the village?

 CHOICE 9

This cast stone fountain is very similar to the village fountain from above.  It has great details like the scrolled copper spouts.

CHOICE 10

Yet another cast pillar fountain

 CHOICE 11

This fountains pond basin is close to the size we had in mind.  The three tiered cast stone fountain in the center may be slightly larger than necessary when compared with the basin.

CHOICE 12

These small fountains are really starting to stand out.  Modern versions have an on / off handle for water conservation.

Another interesting trough style fountain.

CHOICE 13

This style of urn fountain is high on our list.  The pond size is just right.  There is enough space for boxwood's to grow around the outer edge.  There is a single jet of water coming from the center to add some height.  Its not so large that it overwhelms the space.  What a great little fountain.

CHOICE 14

This one too is on our short list.  Again, very simple in design with only a few jets creating a crown feature.  If this had a single water jet coming straight up the center it may be perfect.  The pond size is great, and there are no statues or cast stone tiers to keep clean!

CHOICE 15

This fountain is a perfect size and style for this house.  It incorporates stones from the exterior of the house to tie the two together.  It would have been nice to see the center water jet shooting slightly higher to add a focal point to the fountain.

CHOICE 16

Yet another cast stone fountain with three tiers and a cast stone basin. 

CHOICE 17

Now here is a different approach.  I like the square basin that seems to vanish into the ground.  It also has a beautiful overflowing urn.  Too much for the driveway of an old world french style home?  Maybe for a courtyard on the side of the house?

CHOICE 18

This cast bronze fountain is amazing.  There is so much detail in the figures.  The overall appearance is well balanced between the basin size, fountain size, and home.  For our old world home, this fountain may have too much detail!  I expect that there will be a few boxwood's going in the exposed soil surrounding the fountain.

These little lions won't help with the driveway fountain, but they may just show up along the end of the swimming pool.  A pool is a great source for creating a water feature.  A few simple jets shooting up from and back into the pool makes for a great effect.

CHOICE 19

This three tiered fountain may have too much water flowing for its size.  With that much water, one needs to think about the surrounding buildings and how the sound will bounce.  I imagine this is quite loud, although beautiful.

CHOICE 20

This multi tiered fountain could be a little bigger due to the large inner circle created by the driveway.  All of the color and material selections in this home tie it together nicely.

CHOICE 21

I don't know..too much?? 

Of course it is but I bet it's fun to watch.

Which fountain would you like to see in front of your home???

We hope these images help inspire you to install a water feature at your home.  They sound great, attract numerous birds, and help to calm you down after a long hard day.

Until next time.....

-Tonya and Rob