Cristallo Pools builds custom gunite pools across Tequesta, from the riverfront lots along the Loxahatchee to the gated fairways of Tequesta Country Club and Turtle Creek. Our design studio is in Jupiter, the next town south and the same north Palm Beach County market, so Tequesta is home ground, not a territory we pass through.

Tequesta looks like one small village. Underneath, it is three permitting jurisdictions and two very different kinds of ground, and both of those decide how a pool gets built here. Getting it done cleanly starts with knowing which one your lot sits in.

Licensed CPC1458452 and CBC1255924. Custom gunite only, no fiberglass or vinyl. Winner of a 2025 PHTA International Award of Excellence.

Three permit desks meet at the river

The Loxahatchee River is not just the view in Tequesta. It is the actual border between Palm Beach County and Martin County. That line decides who issues your pool permit, and plenty of homeowners find out late that the community they call Tequesta answers to a different desk than they assumed.
Desk 1

Village of Tequesta

Who permits
Village of Tequesta Building Department, 345 Tequesta Drive, filed through the Village BS&A online portal.
Where it applies
The incorporated village core, including Tequesta Country Club, Turtle Creek, Anchorage Point, and Riverside on the Loxahatchee.
Good to know
The Village enforces its own Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance on top of the Florida Building Code.
Desk 2

Unincorporated Martin County

Who permits
Martin County, not the Village, on a different submittal path.
Where it applies
Addresses just north of the river marketed as Tequesta but sitting in Martin County, including Jupiter Hills and Rolling Hills.
Good to know
Different code amendments and a different plan-review process than the Village next door.
Desk 3

Town of Jupiter Island

Who permits
The Town of Jupiter Island, within Martin County.
Where it applies
The barrier-island portion of the Tequesta area, east across the Intracoastal.
Good to know
The most restrictive of the three, with coastal construction rules in play.

We confirm which authority your lot answers to before we draw a single line, so the plan is built to the code that actually applies rather than reworked at review.

Two kinds of Tequesta ground

Tequesta does not have one ground condition, it has two, sometimes on the same street. The design has to start from which one you are on.

high water table, close to the surface Riverfront lot Loxahatchee River the Palm Beach / Martin County line Higher natural ground grading & drainage, not water table
Within Tequesta the ground swings from low, high-water-table riverfront to genuine elevation. Two different builds.

Waterfront and low riverfront lots

Along the Loxahatchee and the Intracoastal the water table sits high and close to the surface. On these lots the excavation is dewatered on dig day, and the shell is engineered against groundwater pressure from the start. A monolithic gunite pool with a hydrostatic relief valve is built for exactly this. The floating and pop-out failures you read about after storms come from draining a pool on saturated ground, not from a shell designed for it.

Higher natural ground

Not all of Tequesta is low. Some genuine elevation runs through the area, and communities like Jupiter Hills sit up on it. These lots trade the water-table problem for grading, drainage, and access questions instead. Either way the design starts from your lot's real elevation and flood zone, which the building department confirms as inside or outside a Special Flood Hazard Area.

Because parts of the village flood from tidal surge and heavy rain, the Village of Tequesta's Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance can apply to work that the Florida Building Code alone would not. We build that into the plan up front rather than discovering it at inspection.

Where we build around Tequesta

We build custom gunite pools throughout the Tequesta area. Which permit path applies depends on the jurisdiction, so here is how the communities we serve break down.

Village of Tequesta (Palm Beach County)

  • Tequesta Country Club
  • Turtle Creek
  • Anchorage Point (on the Loxahatchee)
  • Riverside on the Loxahatchee
  • Riverbend Country Club

Martin County side

  • Jupiter Hills
  • Rolling Hills

Most of these are gated communities with their own architectural review. That approval is separate from the building permit, and we prepare the review submittal alongside the permit set so one does not stall the other.

Serving Tequesta from our Jupiter studio

Our design studio and office are in Jupiter, about a 30-minute drive from most of Tequesta. Close enough that your project is run by the same in-house Cristallo team from the first design meeting through the final inspection, not handed off to rotating subcontractors, which is the single most common complaint homeowners have about pool builds.

Cristallo Pool/Backyard Concepts
14701 Walgreens Dr, Jupiter, FL 33478
(561) 766-0353  ·  sales@cristallopools.com

Getting here from Tequesta

About a 30-minute drive, roughly 20 miles. From Tequesta, head south to Indiantown Road, then take Indiantown Road (SR-706) west, staying on it past I-95 toward Jupiter Farms. The studio is on Walgreens Drive, on the west side of Jupiter.

Open driving directions in Google Maps →

Tequesta pool questions, answered

Our lot is on the Loxahatchee or near the water. Is the high water table a problem?

On waterfront and low riverfront lots the water table sits high, so the excavation is dewatered on dig day and the shell is engineered against groundwater pressure from the start. A gunite pool with a hydrostatic relief valve stays put. The floating and pop-out stories come from draining a pool on saturated ground, not from a shell built for this water table.

Should I drain my pool before a hurricane?

No. On this water table, draining is what makes pools lift or pop out of the ground. You lower it slightly if at all, and never past the skimmer. The hydrostatic valve and the water's own weight are what hold the pool down through surge and heavy rain.

Who actually issues my pool permit in Tequesta?

It depends which side of the line your lot sits on. Inside the Village of Tequesta the permit comes from the Village Building Department at 345 Tequesta Drive, through its BS&A portal. Some communities marketed as Tequesta, like Jupiter Hills and Rolling Hills, are actually across the Loxahatchee in Martin County and permit through the county instead. We confirm the right authority before we design.

Do I need my club or HOA to approve it too, or just the Village?

Both, and they are separate. The building permit is a code approval. Your community's architectural review board is a design approval. Building without that sign-off can mean fines or being told to undo work, so we prepare the review submittal alongside the permit set.

How much does a custom pool cost in Tequesta?

There is no honest flat number before we see your lot, and different quotes are often not the same pool. Price is driven by size and depth, the shell and finish, waterfront dewatering, decking, and features like a spa or spillover. We quote the full scope in writing per lot after a site visit, so you are comparing like for like.

Building on a Tequesta lot?

Tell us where your lot sits and we will confirm the jurisdiction, the ground, and what a custom gunite pool looks like there.