Celebrating 40 years in business, Prestige Pools & Spas stands as one of the St. Louis region’s most enduring and sophisticated names in luxury outdoor living. What began in 1985 as a family-operated swimming pool company founded by Fran and Joan Struckhoff has evolved into a premier design-build firm specializing in architecturally integrated outdoor environments that blend craftsmanship, engineering precision and elevated lifestyle design.
Today, the company operates under the ownership of Lucas Poelker, alongside General Manager Mike Angelo, son of the company’s founders. Together, they continue to advance a philosophy rooted not merely in construction, but in the cultivation of meaningful outdoor experiences tailored to the lives of their clients.
“We believe luxury outdoor living should be deeply personal, designed around what ‘oasis’ means to each homeowner,” Lucas explains. “Our goal is to create spaces that are not only visually striking, but comfortable, memorable and truly reflective of the families who live in them.”
That philosophy has become increasingly relevant as outdoor living has transformed over the past four decades from a supplementary amenity into a central architectural and social feature of the modern home. According to Lucas, early pool design trends often emphasized geometric simplicity and utilitarian recreation. Contemporary clients, however, increasingly envision expansive, resort-inspired environments incorporating outdoor kitchens, pergolas, integrated fire features, custom patios, water elements and fully curated entertainment spaces.
The Prestige Pools team distinguishes themselves not only through aesthetic vision, but also through technical versatility. The company remains one of the few firms in the St. Louis market specializing in all three major pool construction categories: concrete gunite pools, steel-wall vinyl liner pools and fiberglass pools. All aspects of design, construction and outdoor integration are performed in-house, enabling a high level of continuity and quality control.
Over the course of four decades, Prestige Pools has built more than 2,000 pools throughout the region while earning 400-plus industry design awards through organizations including the National Spa and Pool Institute, the Pool & Hot Tub Alliance and the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals. Yet despite its accolades, company leadership consistently returns to a far more personal measure of success: relationships.
Beyond its portfolio of award-winning projects, Prestige Pools has cultivated something increasingly rare within the luxury home industry: institutional loyalty. In an era marked by workforce turnover and transactional service models, Lucas says the company’s multidecade employee retention reflects a culture grounded in respect, stability and the enduring belief that both clients and employees should be treated like family.
“The most rewarding thing about building the business is the friendships we make,” Mike reflects. “A lot of customers have moved two or three times, and are now on their third pool with us. Some are now having us build pools for their children. That kind of trust means everything to us.”
Indeed, continuity has become one of the company’s defining characteristics. Several employees who helped establish Prestige Pools during its early years remain with the company today, with many having dedicated more than 30 years to the business. Mike says that remarkable longevity is inseparable from the culture established by his parents decades ago.
“Treating people right, both customers and employees, is what keeps a business going long after others disappear,” he says. “That culture started with my parents, and it’s still the foundation of who we are.”
That familial philosophy extends well beyond the workplace. Many of the company’s clients include second-generation homeowners whose parents once entrusted Prestige Pools with building their family pools decades earlier. The result is a rare sense of continuity in an industry often driven by transactions rather than relationships.
The company’s early years were not without challenges. Mike recalls that the swimming pool industry of the 1980s was overwhelmingly male-dominated, requiring his mother, Joan Struckhoff, to overcome persistent skepticism despite becoming one of the region’s most successful pool sales professionals.
“My mom had to overcome the stereotypes of what a woman would know about building pools. But over time, she became one of the top salespeople in the industry and helped establish Prestige Pools as one of the largest pool companies in the region," Mike says.
For Mike, the company’s 40th anniversary represents more than corporate longevity. He says it reflects the endurance of a multigenerational vision grounded equally in innovation, craftsmanship and human connection. “I feel such a sense of pride in knowing we've been in business for 40 years and still are going. To see how much it has grown since we started is incredible.”