Two models are available in the residences: Oro (Spanish for “gold”), has a basic floor plan of 3,133 square feet, while the Plata (Spanish for “silver”), starts at 3,825 square feet. But with the options available, square footage of the homes ranges from the minimum 3,133 to nearly 4,800. For instance, options on the larger house include making a fourth bedroom with full bath out of the den and adding a den as additional square footage to the floor plan. Other options feature the addition of a game room or a morning room.

Exteriors will be traditional Territorial–a look that blends with the nearby Four Seasons Resort– with an elevation that employs real stone and thereby evokes the quality and history of Southwestern style. Windows are deeply recessed, an architectural design that not only contributes a sheltering effect from the sun’s rays but grants a relief character to the wall surface.

The deep recesses indicate another design characteristic of the homes: thick walls. Approximately 80 percent of the home’s walls are double thickness, which contributes to the ambience of the house as well as providing greater insulation. Design and function mesh as small windows punctuate some of the walls in rooms with high ceilings, for these windows that are common to Southwestern architecture enable natural light to illumine the rooms while minimizing the heat from the sun’s rays.

Authentic Santa Fe architecture includes front courtyards as standard on all the houses, with entry to each by way of a thick wooden gate in the home’s enclosing wall. An optional guest casita– 558 square feet–is available with any of the luxury residences. The front courtyard grows even more intimate when nestled between the front of the house and the casita, and special features like fountains and fireplaces can add warmth to the setting.

Outdoor living space in the backyard is integrated in the design. The door system at the rear of the house makes the most of the outdoor element as the door slides open in panels and disappears into the wall, making the living room feel two to three times its actual size.

The master suite, the living room and the patio feature real wood beams as a design element. And the positioning of the beams was carefully determined so they would appear not as ornamental add‑ons but as structurally integral to the architecture.

An airy morning room comes as part of the kitchen area, which features cabinet space aplenty  atop of the ample storage of the kitchen itself. Cabinets are not set flat to the wall but in varying depths, bringing visual interest to the room. Visual appeal is also seen in the kitchen island, with furniture detailing such as turned‑wood corners. Other special features in the kitchen include a 48‑inch Viking range and separate 30‑inch Viking refrigerator and freezer.

Full‑slab granite or stone comprise the countertops, and stone is commonly used throughout the homes for the floor. Of particular note are the windows. These have removable screens, but instead of the screen opening to the inside of the house, as many do, these open outward and thus allow the homeowner greater options in window treatments.

Lot size for the residences average just under a half‑acre, and the properties are completely walled. This was designed to be especially attractive to buyers from out of the area, allowing them to just “lock and leave,” according to Norm Kitzmiller, broker of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, whose office represents the properties.

The homes, designed by Tim Reader of the Phoenix architectural firm Felton Group, primarily stand at a single story. Views therefore flow uninterrupted over this terrain of saguaros and dramatic rocky outcroppings.

Some two stories are allowed in the custom home sites, but these sites lie up against the mountain and, hence, do not impact another homeowner’s view.

The custom home sites cluster at the upper end of Privada, and range in size from a half‑acre to two‑and‑two‑thirds acres. Each site has been given its own name that evokes the history of the territory during the time of the conquistadores and a description that plays on that conquistador’s history. Lot forty‑one, for example, is “Balboa,” named for the Spanish explorer Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, credited with being the first Spanish explorer to see the Pacific Ocean; the lot description praises the (“pacific”) serenity of the site.

Padre Francisco Garcés has the honor of being namesake to Privada’s largest custom home site. Pointing out that Garcés “witnessed natural wonders never before seen by a European” and named many of the Southwest’s rivers (including the Colorado, in Spanish “red mud”) along with numerous other geographical features, the home site description invites the homeowner to savor the natural beauty surrounding this site.

From its natural environs,  Privada offers easy access to the trail system that wraps around  Pinnacle Peak.

Privada is developed by Monarch Communities and SCS Advisors, both Scottsdale development groups. The luxury residences start at $1.35 million; the custom home sites in the mid‑$800,000s. The properties are shown by appointment; call Dennis Kuhr or Debbie Sinagoga at  Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, (480) 473‑7711.