A Kansas couple who wanted a tropical getaway without moving away from their family turned two acres of their Olathe backyard into a huge 100,000-gallon swimming lagoon. Homeowners Melissa and Mike Morris spent nearly a year building their private outdoor retreat. The lagoon stretches about 100 feet long and 50 feet wide on their ten-acre property. It features six cascading waterfalls, tropical fish trained to respond to human voices, and thousands of pounds of imported granite rocks, including one giant boulder weighing 23,000 pounds. In an interview with Kansas City Homes & Style magazine, Melissa Morris described how their suburban backyard had changed. “I look out the window, and I get this fat, cheesy grin on my face,” Morris told Kansas City Homes & Style. “I’m like, is this real? Do I actually live here? Even when I’m slaving and sweating in it, I look around, and I smile, because I realize this is paradise.”
Inspired by a trip to Tahiti
The project grew from the couple’s wish to enjoy a coastal lifestyle while staying close to their family in Kansas. Traditional swimming pools in the Midwest can face long-term damage from harsh winter weather. Repeated freezing and thawing can crack concrete and damage paving. After watching relatives deal with expensive repairs to a traditional pool, Morris wanted a natural swimming area that could better handle the local climate. The idea for the lagoon took shape during a holiday in Tahiti. The couple stayed at a resort with a natural stone cove protected by a reef-like structure. Warm water and tropical reef fish could move freely through the Tahitian cove, while larger ocean animals were kept out. Natural stepping stones around the water added to the unusual swimming experience. Morris returned to Olathe determined to create a similar ocean-like setting at home. She imagined a natural swimming pond with beach-style entrances instead of the usual walls and chlorinated water of a standard pool.
Hauling massive boulders from Colorado
The lagoon’s main visual feature is its large stone structure. It uses granite boulders brought from high-altitude areas of Colorado rather than locally available Kansas limestone. According to a feature published by Kansas City Homes & Style, Morris asked a friend to travel to Colorado and climb to heights of 14,000 feet to choose specific granite rocks. She wanted stones with gray and white streaks and sparkling mineral patterns. To make sure construction workers did not accidentally install her favourite stones with their best sides facing down, Morris marked important rocks with red spray-painted dots. The largest rock on the property arrived by chance when a delivery crew loaded an oversized 23,000-pound boulder onto its truck. The enormous stone needed an excavator to slide it off the vehicle. Once the crew stood the boulder upright, the couple noticed its unusual face-like shape. They quickly named it “Jabba the Hutt,” after the fictional Star Wars character.
Creating a year-round tropical landscape
To make the lagoon feel like a real beach, the couple added two zero-entry shorelines. These gently slope into the water and are made from smooth, tumbled white marble rather than ordinary sand. This helps prevent loose grit from getting into the water filters. The water ranges from a shallow five-foot shelf to six and a half feet in the central diving area. Water moves continuously through a filtration system designed by Aquascape. The couple hired local company Good Earth Water Gardens to build the main lagoon and its large stone barriers. The surrounding garden includes artificial palm trees made with real palm husks. They give the area a tropical look while allowing it to withstand freezing Kansas winters. The couple also added natural wood features, including a hollowed-out walnut log recovered from a river on Mike Morris’s family property. “Mike and I are both pretty ambitious and planned on doing it ourselves, but after almost finishing the waterfall pond by our barn, we realized this lagoon would probably take us two years to complete on our own and I don’t have that much patience or time,” Morris explained to Kansas City Homes & Style. The couple also put in 12 to 14 hours a day working on the surrounding gardens, cabana structures, and outdoor seating areas.
Sharing the private lagoon
The finished backyard project, officially named “Morris Lagoon,” has attracted attention from well beyond the local community. After videos of the 100,000-gallon lagoon spread across social media platforms, the couple began receiving requests from photographers who wanted to arrange private photo sessions on the property. Morris has not ruled out hosting small private gatherings or weddings there in the future. For now, however, the couple is focused on finishing the last landscaping details and enjoying their own private retreat.
