Portland man turns $48,412 backyard makeover into $85,000 rental business

Photo credit: swimply.com When Rob Nachbar bought his Portland, Oregon, home in 2015, the backyard was little more than a patch of grass with a hot tub. By 2019, the grass was worn out, and an early redesign using pea gravel and flagstone made the space even less usable. Then the pandemic arrived, giving Nachbar and his family both time at home and a reason to rethink how they lived outdoors. What followed was a five-year, hand-built transformation of an 800-square-foot yard into a covered, colourful entertainment space called Pong Springs. According to Realtor.com, the project cost $48,412, while Axios reported that by 2025 the backyard had generated about $85,000 through hourly rentals on Swimply.The result is not a conventional garden makeover. Nachbar turned a small 20-by-40-foot yard into four covered zones: a hot tub area, a fire deck, a pavilion with a ping-pong table and a grill deck. The design leans into bright colours, neon lighting and a playful Palm Springs-inspired mood, making the space feel more like a private mini resort than a typical suburban backyard.The backyard began as a problemNachbar initially tried to improve the yard with help from a landscaper friend, bu...