Zsa Zsa Gabor’s Bel-Air Pool Deck Uses Layered Terracotta Pots and Sculptural Jade Urns – It’s the Playbook for Resort-Style Living
In the screen icon’s garden, patina-rich clay, sculptural greenery, and Hollywood Regency glamour endure
Long before Zsa Zsa Gabor’s Bel-Air estate became a piece of Hollywood history, it was already steeped in glamour. Built in the late 1950s (and previously home to Howard Hughes and Elvis Presley), the French Regency-style property served as the socialite's retreat for decades. While the interiors were famous for their grandeur, Gabor’s approach to her pool area offered a more grounded design lesson that's still replicable today.
Rather than relying on rigid landscaping, she used container gardening to bring a more flexible structure to her hardscaping.
By layering terracotta pots (like these from Wayfair) along her brick walls, and placing classical urns directly at the pool’s edge, she softened the space without obscuring the water. Today, we can follow suit by mixing eclectic containers with drought-tolerant plants, just like her Jade plants (available at Walmart) and geraniums. Below, we spoke to planting experts who shared more.
Shop the Gabor-Inspired Edit
Recreating this layered poolside doesn’t require lifting heavy, solid stone or fragile clay. This terracotta planter captures the classic, subtly grooved silhouette of traditional estate urns in a lightweight, fade-proof design.
Notice how Gabor avoided brand-new, sterile garden pots in favor of vessels with history and texture. A whitewashed terracotta pot serves as a modern shortcut to this aesthetic. It's a Spanish-style heirloom piece that will always impress.
While Gabor’s poolside urns boasted mature, towering jade, you can still her look with a starter plant. The secret lies in the styling. Begin cultivating that same lush, Hollywood Regency texture with this option from Walmart.
Gabor used rows of potted geraniums to add vibrant warmth against her stone pool deck. Pair this live quart-sized geranium with a rustic terracotta pot to replicate her iconic Bel-Air styling in minutes.
Featuring a distressed white finish and columned base, this fiber-stone piece instantly brings Old Hollywood elegance to a modern patio. To capture Gabor’s exact aesthetic, opt for the version with a drainage hole and plant a structural succulent.
With its classic earth-toned finish and clean silhouette, this terracotta planter is the ultimate building block for recreating Garbor's layered, resort-style container garden. Fill it with succulents for the perfect look.
As mentioned, Gabor filled her planters with succulents, specifically a Jade plant, that fill the area with texture. Choosing varieties that thrive in direct heat is essential for recreating this look around a sun-exposed pool area.
'The Jade plant is one of the most tolerant when it comes to sun in the home,' says gardening expert Chris Bonnett. 'It thrives in sunlight, can sit in direct sun and tolerates dry air. They require little maintenance and only need watering when the soil is completely dry.'
To build out a full, layered container display along a terrace wall or pool edge, contrast similar stone urns with terracotta pots. The secret to keeping the arrangement manageable is opting for greenery that can survive intense sun glare and dry spells without wilting.
For warm, exposed stone surfaces, Bonnett recommends incorporating drought-tolerant planting options like Aloe vera into the cluster. 'This plant loves bright light and can handle hot windowsills in the summer,' he explains. 'Since it naturally grows in dry environments, it only needs watering every two to four weeks. It also has thick leaves that store water, which makes it forgiving if you do forget to water it.'
Gabor mastered the art of visual framing by placing taller potted plants near her outdoor furniture, drawing the eye upward and creating a sense of an outdoor room.
To achieve a similar sense of height and silhouette, introducing drought-resistant focal plants works alongside lower clay pots. 'Despite not actually being a true palm, this plant is extremely drought-tolerant,' says Bonnett of the Ponytail palm. 'It does well in bright and sunny rooms and can cope with high temperatures. It’s low maintenance and only needs watering once the soil completely dries out.'
This poolside setup proves that elevating an outdoor area doesn't require a full landscape renovation. A curated collection of planters and durable plants can turn a concrete or brick deck into a resort-inspired pool for the rest of the summer.
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