On the eastern bank of the Hudson River, in a bucolic neighborhood of New York’s Town of Greenburgh, lies a charming village, Hastings-On-Hudson. This village is bordered to its east by the Saw Mill River. You might say that the people who live there know a thing or two about the joys of water. 

One such couple, with their home facing the Hudson River, had been wanting a particular water feature — a hot tub. But they hadn’t decided where to position it on their property. Then an answer, you might say, one day just dropped on them.

“In our backyard patio area we had an English-style garden, stone walls with plantings, a garage, and a big — almost 150-year-old, oak tree,” says the husband. “We never considered putting a hot tub there for lack of available space. But in March of 2018, during a heavy storm, the tree fell. We were lucky it didn’t fall toward the house, but it did destroy our two-car-garage, about a third of our patio, and half of a wall.”