Company History
A Pioneer in Family Backyard Living
For over 65 years, Gohlke Pools has been a pioneer in family backyard living. Since 1958, when Gene Gohlke built one of Denton’s first family swimming pools, the Gohlke family has provided service and innovative design, shaping the backyard landscape throughout the region. Gohlke Pools is a nationally recognized pool builder with a creative design team that will help to create the right pool for your home and your budget. At Gohlke Pools we believe the Texas lifestyle means spending as much time outdoors as possible. We look forward to working with you to assure that every moment outdoors is a memorable moment.
History of Gohlke Pools
In 1953, Gene Gohlke came from Denison, where he grew up, to Denton to attend North Texas State University. In February of 1956, he went to work for Bert Moore (now deceased), owner of Moore Building Products. Moore Building Products sold masonry supplies, concrete blocks, and other building products mostly to the building trade. Mr. Moore and Gene felt the time was right to begin building residential swimming pools and formed a partnership in 1958 named Royal Pools of Denton. The pools in those days were built in much the same way pools are today with the exception of one major difference. Instead of using the current method of applying gunite (applying the concrete by shooting it through a hose at high pressure and stacking it up the walls), the concrete truck would back up to the pool and dump the load onto the floor of the pool. Laborers would then begin hand stacking the concrete up the walls. It was a very effective method of building pools as they have withstood the test of time. In 1962, Royal Pools tried the gunite method, which is a much easier method of applying the concrete. They built approximately 75 pools before deciding to cease pool construction in 1963. Included in the pools that were built by Royal Pools that are still in operation are the VFW pool, Clayton House Hotel pool and residential pools in Denton on Mistywood, Ector, Bolivar, Cordell, Woodland and Archer Trail. Most all of the pools at that time were diving pools, and cost approximately $3,500 to $4,000.
In 1963, Gene purchased the business from Bert Moore and shortly thereafter opened Gohlke Pool Supply as a separate business, selling pool supplies and offering repairs and weekly cleaning service. They continued to service pools and provide supplies for the pools they had built through Moore Building Products. In 1974, Gene renamed Moore Building Products to Gene Gohlke Building Products.
In 1984, when Matt Gohlke graduated from Texas Christian University, he joined the family business working for Gohlke Pool Supply. In 1985, Matt & Gene formed a partnership, Gohlke Custom Pools, to resume pool construction. In 1986, Gohlke Pools (Gohlke Pool Supply and Gohlke Custom Pools) moved to 615 Dallas Drive. In 1992, Matt purchased Gohlke Pool Supply and the remaining 50% of Gohlke Custom Pools.
In 1995, the Service Department move into a 4000 sq. ft. warehouse on Frame Street and in 2000, moved Gohlke Custom Pools (pool construction) to 620 Dallas Drive. This meant that the business had now grown to three independent divisions working out of three separate locations. Although this move created space for all three divisions to flourish, it created some logistical problems.
In the Spring of 2003, the company moved to 909 Dallas Drive where DFW Hot Tubs, New Pool Construction, and our Retail still office today.
In 2017, Gohlke Pools purchased a warehouse at 1115 Duncan Street to help with the growth experienced in the company. Today, both the Repairs and Maintenance Departments office all staff at this location while the company has seen growth reach nearly 100 team members.
It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Gohlke Pools founder, Gene Gohlke. Although he has been retired for many years, he remained an inspiration and a mentor. We will miss him.
Ten Reasons to Buy a Gohlke Pool
- Award-winning
- Named multiple times as one of the Top 50 Pool Builders in the United States. (Pool & Spa News Magazine)
- Named multiple times as one of the Top 50 Pool Service Companies in the United States (Pool & Spa News Magazine)
- Named as one of the top 10 Swimming Pool Retail Store in the United States (Aqua Magazine)
- Over 80 national design awards, including the most prestigious design award in the pool industry, the International Gold Design Award from the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals.
- Named to the Aqua 100 Swimming Pool Company Hall of Fame
- Past recipient of the Baylor Family Business of the Year.
- Named to the University of North Texas Family Business Hall of Fame
- Highly trained – Our staff includes more Certified Building Professionals and Certified Pool Operators than any pool company in Texas.
- Full-service swimming pool company – In addition to pool construction, we also provide pool repair, pool renovation, weekly pool service, sell hot tubs, and have a retail store. In most cases, we do our own warranty work on the pool, which means that you will deal with us and not have to depend on a third party.
- Over 65 years in the swimming pool business in Denton – This assures you that we will be here tomorrow to back what we said today, and to honor our warranties. A warranty means nothing if the company is not in business to back it up.
- We have seen it all – Our current staff has literally seen it all, as we have over 250 years of combined pool experience. This allows us to solve any problems that can arise during or after the construction of your pool.
- Lifetime 10% discount – For as long as you own your pool, you will receive a 10% discount in our Retail Store and also in our Service Department. This by itself can save you thousands of dollars.
- Financially stable and fully insured – Many consumers are surprised to find out that there is no insurance requirement of pool builders and in the State of Texas. This can result in the homeowner being held responsible in a situation where a worker gets injured or where property is damaged.
- We know what works – The fact that we have been in business so many years allows us to see pools many years after they have been built, which gives us an advantage to know what works over the long haul and more importantly, what doesn’t work over the long haul.
- Job monitoring – We realize that you cannot always be at the job site to watch the construction of your pool. For many people, it is an interesting process and we want you to be able to watch the process if desire to, therefore we provide a web accessible camera system to watch your pool being built while you are at work, on vacation, etc.
- Quality is our commitment to you – Our commitment to you is to build a quality product and not make decisions based on what is cheaper. This type of thinking often results in an unhappy pool owner, where instead of enjoying your swimming pool you are constantly having problems and wondering, “What’s next?” We want you to enjoy your pool—not think bad thoughts when you look in your backyard. Benjamin Franklin was right when he said, “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”
