2026 Elemental Design Group, Inc.
Make Your Home a Destination
A custom water feature, designed by a licensed landscape architect as part of a unified outdoor composition, does something no interior renovation can replicate. It changes the atmosphere. The sound of moving water, whether a sheer descent over basalt, a pond reflecting morning light, or a sculptural fountain at the entry, transforms a property on a sensory level that goes far beyond aesthetics.
At Elemental Design Group, we design water features that are inseparable from the land they inhabit, the architecture they complement, and the lives of the people who experience them every day.
We provide landscape architecture and landscape design services to homeowners in Carmel, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda, Santa Cruz, and Monterey, California.
Contact Rhadiante
Water Feature Design as Landscape Architecture
A pool contractor can install a prefab waterfall. A landscaper can drop in a fountain kit. But a licensed landscape architect does something fundamentally different: she reads the land, the light, the architecture, and the life of the people who will live there and designs a water element that feels inevitable. As if it was always meant to be there.
Why a licensed landscape architect designs a better water feature than a contractor, every time:
- Site-first design — Water must work with grade, drainage, and sight lines. A landscape architect engineers for all three simultaneously.
- Architectural integration — Your water feature should feel continuous with your home’s materials, forms, and entry sequence, not placed in spite of them.
- Ecological intelligence — From plant selection around a Koi pond to recirculation systems designed for California’s water-conscious climate, every element is thoughtfully considered.
- Artisanal materials — Custom copper spillways, hand-laid stone, bespoke tile work, and fabricated metalwork elevate a water feature from amenity to artwork.
- Long-term performance — Proper engineering means a water feature that functions beautifully for decades, not one that requires constant maintenance or early replacement.
From First Sketch to Flowing Water, We Handle Everything
From the first sketch to the moment the water flows, Elemental Design Group manages every phase. We serve as the General Contractor so you never coordinate across multiple vendors.
Design & Architectural Drawings
Full-service site analysis, conceptual design, and complete architectural drawings tailored to your property, your aesthetic, and how you intend to live in the space.
Site Engineering
Water follows the land. We engineer grade, drainage, and structural requirements so your water feature performs as beautifully as it looks, season after season.
Lighting Design
A water feature at night is a different experience entirely. Layered underwater, accent, and ambient lighting transforms your water element from daytime focal point to nighttime destination.
Sound Design
A water feature is as much an acoustic experience as a visual one. Rhadiante designs the sound of your water feature with the same intention as its form calibrated to the scale of your space and whether you want a whisper or a conversation.
Planting & Aquatic Design
From Koi pond plantings and lotus to ornamental grasses, sculptural succulents, and drought-tolerant species, we design the living surround as deliberately as the water feature itself. It matures, deepens, and becomes more itself with every passing season.
Full Installation Oversight
Elemental Design Group manages the entire installation process: contractor and materials selection, scheduling, quality oversight, and project completion. You work with one team, one point of contact, and one standard of excellence throughout.
Work Directly with the Landscape Architect Who Designs Your Water Feature
CA Landscape Contractor License #926561 | 30+ years serving California homeowners
Water is not an afterthought in Rhadiante’s work. It is a primary design element – one that carries sound, light, movement, and meaning into an outdoor space. Her water feature designs draw on deep expertise in Feng Shui landscape principles, site hydrology, custom artisan fabrication, and the unique coastal microclimates of California’s Central Coast and Silicon Valley.
The water features she designs are not catalog items installed by a subcontractor. They are compositions born from the specific character of your site, your home, and what you want to feel when you walk outside.
Featured Pool Project
very project begins with a single question: what should this space feel like? This is one answer.
Zen-Inspired Enchantment in Mountain View
Elemental’s response was to let water do the organizing. A stone pedestal walkway crosses an elegant Koi pond complete with lotus plantings, dividing the space into two distinct outdoor rooms that flow naturally from one to the next. The pond creates a visual and acoustic anchor — its surface reflecting the sky, its edges planted with species that soften the boundary between designed and natural.
A raised wooden dining deck offers sweeping views across the pond, while a second room centers on a gas fire pit surrounded by lush plantings, bamboo privacy screens, and ambient lighting that accentuates the water at night.
>> View Project
Water Feature Elements We Design, Integrate & Install
Every Elemental water feature is a custom composition. Here is a selection of the elements we bring together.
Koi Ponds & Aquatic Gardens
Engineered for healthy ecosystems, designed for visual serenity. Planted, lit, and integrated into the landscape as a true destination
Pondless Waterfalls & Streams
All the sound and movement of a natural water course, with underground reservoir systems that eliminate standing water concerns
Fountains & Sculptural Elements
Custom-designed and cast entry fountains, courtyard centerpieces and freestanding water sculptures in stone, metal and concrete
Reflecting Pools & Water Basins
Still, mirror-surfaced water features that bring sky and light into the landscape. Often most powerful at entry sequences and formal gardens
Underwater & Accent Lighting
Designed to transform your water feature from daytime focal point to nighttime theater. Every light placed with intention reveal what daylight takes for granted
Drought-Smart Recirculation
Closed-loop recirculating systems that are beautiful, responsible, and California-compliant keeping water consciousness in mind
How We Work
Every project begins with a no-cost phone consultation directly with Rhadiante. No forms, no sales reps. From there, we handle everything: on-site assessment, site survey, due diligence on permits and municipal requirements, conceptual design, full construction drawings, and complete installation oversight. We serve as your General Contractor, coordinating all trades and passing our wholesale pricing directly to you at no markup. Your only job is to tell us what you love. Ours is to build it.
What Our Clients Say
Custom Water Feature Design for Discerning Homeowners
Elemental Design Group designs and installs bespoke water features as part of our full landscape architecture services throughout California’s Central Coast, Silicon Valley, and greater Bay Area. Whether your property is a coastal Monterey estate, a Carmel Valley retreat, a hillside Silicon Valley residence, or a wooded Santa Cruz Mountain home, we bring the same level of bespoke attention to every project and every site.
Monterey County
Monterey · Carmel · Carmel Valley · Pebble Beach · 17 Mile Drive · Cypress Point · Pacific Grove · Big Sur
Santa Cruz County
Santa Cruz · Aptos · Capitola · Boulder Creek · Santa Cruz Mountains · Watsonville
Santa Clara County
Saratoga · Los Gatos · Monte Sereno · Los Altos · Los Altos Hills · Cupertino · West San Jose · Morgan Hill
San Mateo County
Atherton · Woodside · Portola Valley · Menlo Park · Hillsborough · Burlingame Hills · Emerald Hills
Talk Directly with Rhadiante
Still Ground. Then Water. You'll Never Hear Your Garden the Same Way Again.
The sound of water changes how a home feels. If you’re ready to experience the difference it makes in yours, we’re ready to begin.
Licensed Landscape Architect · Member ASLA · Serving California since 1992