“Ah! There is nothing like staying at home, for real comfort,” said Jane Austen in Emma. Surely she would endorse Connecticut’s Glengate Company, which loves to create pools and gardens for clients whose homes mean everything to them, making their dreams a reality.
Fast approaching its 50th year in business, Glengate Company knows that our homes represent not only family and tradition but serve as a reflection of our taste, style, and emotional and physical comfort.
Founded in 1972, Glengate is rooted in generations of pride and an unwavering commitment to client satisfaction and quality. With origins going back to the mid-1930s, the company was formed by the grandfather of the present president and owner, Jordan ‘Jordy’ Scott, and was originally named Scott Swimming Pools, one of the state’s first pool-building businesses.
Today, Glengate continues to follow in the footsteps of its founder, maintaining its family-owned values and dedication to excellence.
Changing times, enduring quality
Popular thousands of years ago in Ancient Greece and Rome, early pools were public. Evolving over the centuries, private pools grew in popularity in the United States following the Second World War.
Recognizing the potential for pools in 1950s Connecticut, the business came up with a unique concept: “combining California pool culture with New England style and tradition.”
In the sixties, the company found itself working with landscape architects. By becoming an early design-build business, Glengate was able to provide clients with successful projects from inception to completion, without the aggravation, potential delays, and cost overruns that come from working with multiple contractors.
Responding to what its customers’ really wanted, the seventies saw Glengate further expanding its services, integrating pools with garden irrigation, providing in-house horticulturists, and streamlining the permit process.
Keeping up with pool designs worldwide, Glengate was first with the “infinity edge” pool in America, a style popularized on the French Riviera in the eighties.
With a history of ‘firsts,’ the Glengate Company continues to innovate, such as creating a unique position – the residential Property Care Manager role – in the nineties and bringing in licensed horticulturists who would not only complement landscaping specialists, but bring a wealth of knowledge and innovation to the industry.
With a staff of about 150, depending on the time of year, Glengate unifies all outdoor services under one umbrella. Incorporating pool design, build, and renovation with pool care, landscape architecture and construction, garden design and installation, and ongoing property care services, the company’s streamlined offerings provide enhanced outdoor experiences for all clients.
Design-build teamwork
For customers, Glengate’s design-build strategy brings many advantages, like the quality and efficiency that comes from working with one company instead of several. Through a single point of contract, clients are assured that their needs and desires are clearly heard, understood, and executed, from consultation and initial design, through to the completion of construction and landscaping, and ongoing care and maintenance.
Thanks to Glengate’s precise scheduling and budgeting, and efficiency of their experienced in-house staff, clients can enjoy their properties sooner rather than later, since projects are completed in less time than when dealing with multiple contractors.
From quaint backyard gardens to large, master-planned estates and everything in-between, Glengate has the capabilities to ensure successful project outcomes.
Taking responsibility for all project areas is a big part of the Glengate difference. With a skilled and motivated team of trusted employees – some of whom have been an integral part of the company for decades – Glengate remains a pioneer in the industry.
Award-winning
Known for its dedication to innovation and quality, Glengate has received numerous awards since its early days. In 2018, two of the company’s staff – Design Director Brandon Jones, and Landscape Architect Cheryl Russ – won first place in the ‘Landscape – Greater than 1 Acre’ category at the A-List Awards. The company was also a finalist in the ‘Landscape – Under 1 Acre’ category. The A-List Awards is an annual competition held by athome magazine, which recognizes superior residential and commercial design projects.
“It’s always an honor to be recognized by international renowned professionals in the design industry. This award exemplifies our unique approach to landscape and pool design,” Scott told community news and media site Westport Patch at the time.
“We take tremendous pride in our innovative and creative design work. Bringing those designs to life, with our in-house landscape, pool-construction and property-care teams is a total team effort. It’s the key to happy clients, and ultimately, our own success.”
The company was recognized that same year in five categories at the Northeast Spa and Pool Association (NESPA) Outstanding Achievement Awards. NESPA President Barry Kenny described the awards as “the best the pool and spa industry has to offer.”
The award ceremony saw Glengate presented with Recognition in Design and Building gold and silver medals for its exceptional achievements in negative edge pools, safety cover installations, and indoor pool design.
Discerning clientele
Glengate has the good fortune to work for clients who truly appreciate and value their properties, the majority of which are located within a 25-mile radius of the company’s base in Wilton, Connecticut.
Known for its stately, historic architecture and colonial-style homes, the town of Wilton is also recognized worldwide as the home of multinational corporations such as professional services specialists Deloitte & Touche, AIG Financial Products, Cannondale Bicycle Corporation, and toy manufacturer Melissa & Doug, LLC.
Fourth generation
From garden design to large-scale pool projects, Glengate’s professionalism shines through. With decades of experience, the company continues to earn its reputation, largely through word-of-mouth recommendations from long-time clients.
In its fourth generation of family ownership, Glengate continues to create a portfolio showcasing many of its finest works. These include “A Coastal Connection” in Darien, Connecticut, which saw a new pool – complete with beach pebbles reminiscent of the homeowner’s halcyon childhood days – installed to reunite a once-connected estate which had been subdivided. Along with the pool, the project framed the property with hedged perennial gardens.
Other works, such as “Modern Mediterranean” in Westport, required a redesign of the existing pool and grounds “to bring an exacting clean vision to the property that would be cohesive with the home’s modern architecture,” according to Glengate.
From the creation of a “floating” white walkway contrasted with a striking black pebble beach basin to the planting of flowers including blue and white iris – touchingly representing the owner’s first date – the project created a stunning complement to the home’s modernity.
It’s about vision
No matter the size, complexity, or style, Glengate Company has the experienced team to facilitate pool design and creation, landscape architecture and construction, garden design renovation, year-round property care and maintenance needs and much more.
“For me, it has always been about vision,” says Scott on the company’s website. “First, it’s about the vision for what a property can be – aesthetically and artistically. That’s where it all starts – the power to create experiences that move people.
“It’s also about the vision of what kind of company I wanted to create. I’m so proud of all of the passionate and talented teammates that I get to work with every day. The ultimate vision is being able to look at the property through the eyes of my clients. From seeing the unrealized opportunity at first to seeing the joy of our clients in their finished spaces – that’s what I find most inspiring about what we get to do.”
