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The
fireplace in the formal living room features
a mantel and surround of carved canterra
stone. Of note in the entry is the hand‑painted
design on the underside of the arch; artist
Sarah Valentine painted each of the three
arched openings that define the entry, and
also a design around windows in the family
room.
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picture for full size image) |
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| Courtesy
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The
kitchen is designed with easy access for
entertaining and an efficient work triangle
of refrigerator, sink and cooktop. Slab
granite countertops of Desert Amarillo contain
veins of black that coordinate with the
black granite countertop in the nearby wet
bar.
(Click
picture for full size image) |
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| Courtesy
photo |
Sheltered
from the street, the front courtyard is
a quiet retreat.
(Click picture for full size image) |
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| Courtesy
photo |
Outdoor
entertaining area wraps from the spacious
covered patio around the side of the house
and includes a wood-beamed ramada at the
outer edge.
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Customized
within the builder’s footprint
by
RaeAnne Marsh
See
More Photos Here
When
the homeowners contracted with Toll Brothers
to purchase their new home in 2003, it was
with the agreement that the homebuilder would
allow them to dictate some changes to the
proposed floorplan. “As long as you don’t
change the footprint of the house,” was the
response to their request, according to the
homeowners, who then proceeded to reconfigure
some of the 3,900 square feet to further the
hospitality of their lifestyle.
The
first order of business was to assure maximum
exposure to the view. Located in the Cresta
Norte Estate off Cave Creek Road in North
Scottsdale, the home benefits from the slight
rise which gives that end of the Valley the
oft‑lauded “city lights and sunset views”–
as well as somewhat cooler summer temperatures.
This home is situated to capture a long view
across the Valley (“We could see 14 fireworks
displays, from Tempe Town Lake and Ahwatukee
to Sun City,” the homeowner related) while
maintaining privacy from its neighbors.
It’s
the focal point from first glimpse at the
front door.
The
house is in a cul‑de‑sac, set
back and partially sheltered from the street
by a landscaped mound. A pavered walkway leads
from the pavered drive, turning at the house
edge into a secluded front courtyard. Glass‑paned,
the front door and side panels afford sight
straight through to the back yard vista. Although
that scene beckons, it’s worth a pause in
the entry to appreciate
the marble medallion set into the lace‑etched
travertine floor with a pattern that picks
up the design of the wrought‑iron chandelier
above it.
Then
on through, between the defined spaces of
dining room and living room, to the glass
sliding doors, and out to the patio. In the
foreground, the swimming pool juts its negative
edge out over a precipitous drop, and natural
Sonoran Desert terrain stretches beyond in
not‑to‑be‑disturbed serenity.
Wide
and deep, the covered patio offers a comfortable
vantage from which to enjoy the view. Echoing
the shape of arches throughout the home’s
interior and exterior, a curving apron of
two steps gives onto the deck’s pool level.
Adjacent to the pool but raised so it, too,
overlooks the pool’s negative edge, is a six‑person
spa in the shadow of two mature mesquite trees.
Torchiers offer a cool effect at night, and
misters installed at the pool edge do the
same in the heat of day.
All
saltillo‑tiled–colored in a muted desert
tone that blends with the landscape–the outdoor
entertainment
area wraps around to one side of the house.
Given prominence is a picnic ramada, a wood‑beam
structure with misters and even a sunscreen
over trellis roof. An adjacent area is designed
to hold a lounge, with a built‑in cooler
within reach and a heat lamp, to give this
year‑round attraction. Filling out the
rest of the outdoor space is a large open
area where are a built‑in barbecue and
a full fireplace with a wide bench‑style
hearth.
Facing
the fireplace are sliding doors back into
the house, opening to the breakfast area between
the kitchen and the family room. Sliding doors
near the ramada connect the outdoor area to
the family room, another set from the master
give onto the spa end of the patio, and still
another set open the kitchen to the front
courtyard.
The
kitchen and family room line up to form one
wing of the home, behind the three‑car
garage. One wall of the family room is an
entertainment center, with niches carefully
planned to perfectly accommodate a 50‑inch
flat‑screen TV and all the related control
units for the seven‑speaker surround‑sound,
as well as two wide, open display ledges.
In
the kitchen, an efficient work triangle is
formed by the sink, refrigerator and island‑mounted
electric cook top. The island is oversize,
affording a generous space from which to serve
food when entertaining. This was one of the
homeowner modifications, and, with cupboards
on both sides, it greatly increased the kitchen’s
storage space. There is also decorative, but
functional, shelving in the glass‑doored
cupboards below the bar‑height breakfast
counter that shields the kitchen work‑area
from the family room. Rope lights hidden in
a groove on the underside of the counter provide
a decorative glow that calls further attention
to the three‑tiered detailing of the
wall on which the counter rests. And a walk‑in
pantry is steps away, behind double doors
that face the breakfast bar.
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Down
a short hallway that ends at the garage‑connecting
door lies the laundry room, an ample space with
cupboards above the washer and dryer, a convenient
utility closet (another homeowner add‑on)
and, across the far wall, a cupboard with basin
and countertop.
The
entire entertainment area of the home is served
by a wet‑bar situated where kitchen, family
room and dining room walls would meet–if such walls
were there. The builder’s floorplan, in fact, did
have full walls at this point, enclosing a small
powder room. The homeowners opened up the space,
creating a more open flow between the rooms and
visibility to the pool area to be enjoyed from the
kitchen as well as the conveniently placed bar outfitted
with a wine cooler, a Fisher & Paykel dishwashwer,
and more of the counter‑rimming rope lighting.
The
powder room was not eliminated, but was moved a
few feet away down the transverse hallway that crosses
the entry and continues to the bedroom wing. (It
should be noted that this hallway also features
a long bench as a window ledge, looking out to the
fountain that dominates the front the courtyard.)
A much larger room than the one in the original
floorplan, the powder room features a floating cabinet
with lighting below it and an art‑glass counter
lit by rope lights within the cabinet. A hammered
copper basin sits on the counter, with fixtures
mounted in the wall behind it. These are among the
many details that prompts the master of the house
to say of his interior designer wife, “She had an
unlimited budget to build the house, and she exceeded
it.”
With
a lighted display niche as its endpoint, the hall
ends just past the powder room at the double doors
to the master suite. At the further end of the spacious
bedroom is a sitting area that overlooks the spa
and desert view beyond, with a sliding door to the
side that gives onto the covered patio. Inconspicuous
from the doorway, a hobby/office area opens from
the sitting area, its square footage stolen from
the master’s walk‑in closet the builder had
designed to lie along this side of the room.
On
an angle at the near end is the doorway to the master
bath. Inside is the door to the still‑spacious
walk‑in closet, and next to that an alcove
with the jetted tub. Two display niches face each
other at either end of the tub, one holding a TV.
Across from the tub, the wall is spanned by two
sinks separated by a lower vanity counter. The counter’s
black granite is picked up in the floor, where black
rectangles outline the space while also serving
to demarcate the change from the small 4‑inch
tiles of the tub surround and wall edge and the
18‑inch tiles of the floor. This décor pattern
is also found in the shower stall that fills one
corner of the bathroom.
While
the master suite fills the rear portion of this
wing, another hall breaks off near the entry to
lead
to the two secondary bedrooms. This hall first passes
an office that faces the front courtyard. Sliding
doors can shut the room for quiet, but their glass
panels keep it open to the outdoor view. The architectural
tic‑tac‑toe effect of the coffered ceiling
adds interest to the room.
Beyond
the office lies a game room from which open the
bedrooms. They corner to each other,
separated by a Jack‑and‑Jill bathroom
with the enhanced share‑ability feature of
a door closing the tub/shower and commode area from
the double sinks.
Listed
at $1,389,000, is offered for sale through Stephanie
Anderson of Sterling Fine Homes & Land, (602)
315‑3633.
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