Old Town Litchfield Park is my secret vice. I work a lot in the far West Valley, but, of course, a lot of my work is focused on bread-and-butter suburban tract homes.

But I love it when I get a few minutes to sneak into Litchfield Park. The homes are excellent, vast and elegant, low-slung statements of mid-century confidence.

The photos here are illustrative of the quality of the homes, but you can see more at our Classic Litchfield Park homes web site.

Look at this:

That’s just sweet. It’s a Ralph Haver home in the Windemere neighborhood, off of Indian School Road just east of 44th Street. There are only three dozen Haver homes in the community, and there are fewer that 200 Havers in all of Phoenix.

But for all the cookie-cutter tract homes littering the desert, the unique Ralph Haver style redeems them all.

They’re not the most practical homes, and they tend to seem kind of small to modern sensibilities. But they have a home-of-the-future panache you won’t find in more-normal residential structures.

This particular home is interesting because it’s all-but-unchanged on the inside. These are original sheet-metal cabinets, for example:

As I write this, there are a total of five Haver homes for sale in the Valley — and only one in Windemere. (The home shown here is gone, alas.) If you would like to see them first-hand — or other mid-century modern marvels of design — give us a call at 602-740-7531. We’ll take you to a Phoenix that might have been…

The 21st Willo Home Tour & Street Fair will take place on Sunday, February 8, 2009. This is your chance to tour a dozen of the most unique homes to be found anywhere in the Valley of the Sun. Phoenix is well into its extended Spring season, and a walking tour of fascinating homes is a great way to spend your Sunday.

But I get to see interesting homes every day, and, because I do, so do you. Here’s an example from The Willo Historic District:

This is 525 West Granada Road, which is currently offered for sale by Tom Bryant of Realty Executives.

The original 1930 structure is a Tudor Revival. It’s built on a foundation, which is why there are steps leading up to the front door. The historic authenticity of the home has been retained and cherished, as you can see in this stylish and yet almost-rustic kitchen:

But the current owners have upgraded the home in ways that will make sense to modern sensibilities. The original bathroom fixtures have been retained and restored:

But a vast new Master Suite has been added at the back of the home, with era-appropriate fixtures:

This is a sweet home — and you should click this link to see for yourself. Very spacious inside, and there’s a livable guest house and a back yard made for entertaining. The Phoenix Historic Districts are suburban retreats right in the heart of everything, but this home is Historic Phoenix at its most urbane: You’re a couple of blocks north of McDowell Road and a short hop to the new Light Rail line on Central Avenue. You can walk to the Heard Museum, to the Art Museum or to the Burton Barr Public Library.

Walkable Phoenix? That must be a typo, right? It’s not. Give us a ring at 602-740-7531 and we’ll show you the Phoenix that was here before everyone else got here. It’ll be just like the home tour, only just for you — and we’ll be touring homes you can make your own.

If this were any city other than Phoenix, Sunnyslope would already be our Beverly Hills. Instead, this sleeping beauty — with its gorgeous mountain terrain, its dazzling views of downtown, its proximity to freeways, resorts, and the Central Corridor — has been dogged for decades by a lousy reputation that evolved from its days as the original Tent City, back when it was a lowly convalescent camp where the sick and dying came to soak up the sun.

Founded a century ago by an architect who fell for its unique skyline and klieg-lit, hilly terrain, Sunnyslope has been kept in a continuous holding pattern by that crummy rep. It’s maintained its place as a community on the brink of significance, a place of great paradox. Its handsome, hilly landscape — which stretches from 16th Street to 19th Avenue, between Northern and Cactus Roads — has long been populated by drug dealers and hookers, undesirables whose derelict homes rest in the shadow of million-dollar hillside housing. It’s a community that’s often mistaken for a town; one that’s been home to both one of the city’s best-regarded high schools and its highest concentration of crime.

And though developers have been busy building stadiums and relocating college campuses and renovating fallen neighborhoods all over town, the denizens of Sunnyslope have been quietly rebuilding their community, one street at a time. It’s an eccentric, grass-roots effort unlike any other in the Valley, one born of necessity by this overlooked, redheaded stepchild of a borough, and funded by a corporate benefactor — a hospital, no less — that owes its very existence to Sunnyslope.

So wrote Robert Pela last year in Sunnyslopetopia, his New Times article celebrating Sunnyslope.

In the article, he interviews “the mayor of Sunnyslope” Mike Nielsen, interior designer and gallery owner, whose home you can tour this week during the Third Annual Sunnyslope Home Tour.

Here you’ll see a short history of distinguished building in Phoenix: two homes from the 1920′s, including the renovated Bohn Home — an adobe home built as a labor of love during 1928; a Mid-Century Modern ranch; and two modern homes. In addition to Nielsen’s home, the distinctive Young residence will be on display.

Mr. Young, an architect with the Woolsey Studio designed the home for his personal use. He chose Sunnyslope as the site of his home because of its magnificent views right in the city and its tolerance for creative design. No McMansions here!

When? Saturday and Sunday, November 15 & 16
Time? 9 AM to 3:30 PM. Each tour lasts approximately 90 minutes.
Where? Guided tour buses leave every half hour from Sunnyslope Historical Society, 737 E Hatcher Rd
Cost? $35 per person, benefitting the non-profit Sunnyslope Historical Society Museum. Tickets must be purchased in advance by cash or check.

I recently traded email with a prospect who is relocating to Phoenix from Nebraska, discussing Mid-century modern style in Phoenix as compared to the midwest.

Prospect:

… the home (that I sent photos of) had a different exterior…reminded me of plain block and I didn’t care for the look. The exterior of our home is more towards the traditional ranch, but it does have Roman brick on a portion of it.

To which I replied:

…The “plain block” that you don’t like is a staple on Phoenix Mid-Century modern homes. It’s called “slump block,” and is a favorite of architects from that period. You might consider this as part of getting used to the desert aesthetics.”

Alison King has a great discussion (and wonderful photos) about Mid-century modern homes in Phoenix in her article titled “Jazz Standard“ over at her ModernPhoenix website.

Midcentury era tract homes in Scottsdale and Phoenix are so ubiquitous that they often pass under the daily radar, and for good reason; classic ranch homes paved the suburbs of the Phoenix Metro area, emulating the romance of ranch style living in this citrus-field-gone-cosmopolitan city. During the same development boom that brought us western-themed ranches and whimsical character ranch styles such as Swiss Chalet and Dutch Colonial, there emerged a desert-adapted style of Contemporary Ranch architecture that passed on nostalgic forms in favor of neat lines and shade-soaked spaces.

Few postwar architects in Arizona can match the volume of production, variety and notoriety than that of Ralph Haver. Californian by birth but Phoenician by choice, Haver offered his accessible contemporary style to thousands by collaborating with local developers on sizable tracts of land. In the postwar era, tinkering with this new style of home became the American family’s leisure time hobby—their imaginations were fueled by a new genre of home-improvement publications such as Popular Mechanics and Sunset magazine. Today, Haver Homes are sought as creative projects for professional architects and do-it-yourselfers alike. Their clean lines, inherent potential for expansion and solid construction have allowed them to endure the decades through every possible design trend, from skimming with stucco to Santa Fe styling. Now Haver Homes are more likely to be stripped down to bare block or clad in corrugated steel to offer additional protection from the sun.

There was little intended as precious in Haver tract homes. Expression of economy and a few signature elements define the Haver Home styles. Preservationists generally agree that these homes retain their character better as one-story structures and that certain hallmark qualities, such as the clinker bricks and clerestory windows seen in several Haver neighborhoods are best left unmolested. But simply put, the tract homes were designed to be modified, including smooth concrete patios that were often destined to become Arizona Rooms, and the carports that could easily transform into a third bedroom to support a growing nuclear family. This inherently mutable trait poses a challenge among today’s designers who appreciate the original forms but invoke an oath to guide their work: Do nothing that cannot be undone.

In this regard, Haver Homes have become one of the Jazz Standards of architecture—a set of simple themes that an artist can improvise around while maintaining general integrity, and in the best cases emotionally thrill those it takes deep inside.

Be sure to follow the link to take a look at the rest of her article and at her pictures of the Lorna House.

I didn’t want to steal any of Alison’s gorgeous photos, but neither did I want to leave you unfulfilled of any visual treat, so here’s Shelby Lynne covering Burt Bacharach’s Anyone Who Had a Heart. She’s neither Dusty nor Dionne, but the setting of this video is cool and clean, and both 60s icons would have been right at home.

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As I understand it, Frank Lloyd Wright didn’t actually coin the word “Usonian,” but he sure is responsible for the style. The word takes its root from the United States of North America, and Wright used the word to describe his vision of the uniquely (North) American style — A democratic style of architecture for the American lifestyle. The intent was to provide small and inexpensive, but stylish and functional homes for the middle class, and he designed about fifty of these. A local Usonian home that I know about is in Moon Valley. Though he didn’t design this particular house, it’s clear that he influenced its style.

I stumbled across this beauty during the summer of 2005. We had a client for the house — an architecture aficionado and a Frank Lloyd Wright purist — who almost bought the house…

… except he realized, when he flew in for the inspection, that he would have to put too much into the house to restore it, including tearing down additions that in his opinion destroyed the integrity of the design.

Still, I’m in love with the house. When Wright designed the Jacobs house in 1936, he created the prototype of the Ranch Style. I know, Ranches are so ubiquitous that they hardly inspire a yawn from most people. Yet, from the time of the first Usonian during the depth of the Depression through the Postwar housing boom and into the 1950s, the Ranch Style projected a streamlined, casual, energetic lifestyle. The house expanded — using picture windows in front and glass doors in the back — to bring in the light and energy of the outdoors.

Of course, this, too, was the birth of Mid-Century Modern.

You can go here to see the rest of the visual tour we created for our client to wander the home from his Boston residence.

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The trouble with trade shows is the shopportunities. I can restrain myself, by Cathy can be suggestible. Jeff Brown had been talking to me about after-dark lights for our yard signs, but it wasn’t until StarPower, when Cathy saw the product offered by ListingLight.com, that we bought into the idea:

That’s flash photography. The light emitted by the ListingLight is adequate for reading at night, but taking a useful picture would require a tri-pod. Even so, they do the job. Where every other sign on the street is an unreadable silhouette, ours pop out at a distance.

Is it enough to sell the house? Perhaps not, but every little thing helps. There’s no telling when the buyer is coming by, and, even in Arizona, evenings are dark in Winter.

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Think getting your classic Phoenix home on the National Register of Historic Places is a good idea? Think again!

A couple of years ago, when Phoenix was having a particularly cold winter, I accidently domesticated a feral cat who I had been feeding in my yard. During my first decade of driving, I lived where winters really are cold — off of Lake Erie. I had learned better… hit your hood before starting your engine, in case a cat had crawled up inside during the night for warmth. But I’ve been spoiled in Phoenix, and hadn’t given it another thought when I started out for work that cold January morning. The thump, thump, thump coming from under the hood, and then seeing fur flying when Greg opened the hood to see what was going on, stopped me in horror! I thought I had killed the little feral cat that I had become so fond of. I rushed her to Vanaken Pet Hospital, and almost two months later they returned her to me in a lime green body cast. It wasn’t until we removed the cast from her, several weeks later still, that I realized Marquina is a Polydactyl.

My love for Marquina is how I came to be interested in Hemmingway Cats.

So I thought it was too bad when I read today that the U.S. government is threatening the home of Hemmingway’s cats.

I have no idea, of course, whether the complaints against the museum are legitimate, or perhaps the story of a disgruntled employee. How could I know? That’s a matter for local authorities to ferret out. And so I think it’s odd that the federal government would throw its heft into the matter. Then I noticed what gives them the authority:

U.S. Animal and Plant Inspection Service officials argue that the house, listed as a National Historic Landmark since 1968, requires a federal Animal Welfare License, like a circus or zoo, in order to keep housing the cats.

This reminded me of a house that I recently listed and sold in one of Phoenix’s historic districts. The transaction was an incredibly smooth and amicable one. The sellers were great, and so were the buyers. The buyers’ agent was wonderful, as was the title company and loan officer they had chosen for this transaction. Everything was running like a perfectly tuned instrument until a few days before close, when the loan officer called me for clarification. “The lender wants to know whether the house is on the National Register of Historic Places.” I said, no, the house is in an historic district, but isn’t specifically listed on either the state nor national registers. The loan officer was relieved… it seems that had the property been specifically named, the bank that was lending on the second mortgage wouldn’t approve the loan. Apparently, the bank reasoned that if the mortgage payment were to fall into default, the bank wouldn’t have all the normal rights to make the loan good, because they would have to deal with the federal government. They must have had some bad experience with a mortgage loan on a property listed in the National Register, which had gone into default, so decided to avoid potential for a similar problem in the future — no one wants to take on the Feds!

I’ve had clients tell me that they’d avoid nominating their homes for the Registry because they were afraid they’d be hamstrung from making changes without going through a lot of bureaucratic red tape. It’s a good idea to think through the long term consequences of partnering up with a force so much more powerful than you before being seduced by its charm.

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We took a tour of 210 East Keim Drive over the weekend, a completely remodeled home refurbished and marketed by Rhonda Olson.

The house began its life as yet another North Central Phoenix ranch home, stately from the outside, schizo from the inside. Olson took the home to the walls, eliminating the low ceilings and byzantine floorplan, opening up the sight lines and crafting a sybaritic master suite out what had been two separate bedrooms.

We watch historic homes and quirky mid-century moderns, but this is the future of Central Phoenix: Turning the bad design decisions of the past into the modern-day luxury retreats of prosperous empty-nesters.

But Olson’s project is not just an example of fine refurbishing art. It’s also for sale for $725,000. And that’s how you turn a frog into a prince.

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Dwell Magazine is a celebration of distinctive, modern architecture and design. If you’ve never picked up an issue before, this is the month for you to explore Dwell.

This month’s Detour feature, titled “Phoenix Envy,” is an interview with local architect, Will Bruder.

In this article Bruder tells Dwell readers what he likes most about the Valley of the Sun. No surprise that most of his favorite structures here are those that he designed, including the Burton Barr Central Library and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. But he is justifiably proud. He also talks about arts in Phoenix, including First Fridays.

And if you’re ever looking for ideas for cool places to meet friends over drinks or dinner, be sure to pay attention to Bruder’s rundown in this article. If you’ve missed any of the restaurants he mentions, you really should make a point of making the rounds… especially if you’re in Phoenix’s historic neighborhoods, where so many of these establishments, such as My Florist Cafe and Zoës Kitchen, are found.

I’m disappointed with the sole photo the online article uses… it’s an unimpressive shot of our downtown skyline looking west over an empty field and detritus toward the buildings in Copper Square. It even shows a gray sky! Come on! How often do we have gray skies? The pictures in the magazine, especially that of SMoCA, are far more compelling.

Alternatively, a great source for images of local residences that have been designed, in whole or in remodeling, by Will Bruder is the MLS. You can use this link to an MLS Gateway I put together of homes currently listed for sale, or those that have sold through Realtors.

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And another perk is getting to meet some wonderful people. Maybe I’ve been just plain lucky, but nearly everyone I’ve worked with since becoming a Realtor — clients, loan officers, escrow officers and other Realtors — have been truly delightful. One of my “new” friends is Jeanne Mohammadian, an agent with DPR Realty, who I met about 18 months ago, when we were taking GRI (Graduate REALTOR Institute) classes together. Like me, Jeanne really enjoys staging houses, but she doesn’t have the same level of interest that I have in electronic tools of our trade. So when her sister decided to sell her home in the Del Norte historic district, Jeanne gave me a gift — she invited me to come take photos. What a privilege!

The house was listed for $940,000, and I didn’t have any clients who would have been prospective buyers. But at the time, Greg and I had already begun to play with the idea of DistinctivePhoenix.com. So I had thought to build a page of photos on this site. I never did get around to it, the house went under contract, and the photos stayed dormant in my electronic scrapbook.

Then, when Greg was putting together “Distinctive Phoenix, The Movie,” I revisited pictures of my favorite houses to help feed the movie. Of course, many of those photos are from this beautiful home. Once you take a look, you’ll know what I mean … I’ve been sitting on this treasure much too long. It’s time for me to take these photos out of their drawer and share them.

Enjoy!

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Phoenix is sometimes maligned as a vast suburb crawling with tract houses. The complaint is not without some truth, although our tract home neighborhoods can yield some very pleasant surprises. And every home is unique, no matter how similar it might seem to be to its neighbors.

But Cathleen and I get to spend much of our time in Phoenix neighborhoods where every home truly is unique — the historic and architecturally distinctive neighborhoods of Central and North Phoenix, where virtually every structure is a one-off expression of some one artist’s or craftsman’s vision.

We take a lot of photos of the homes we visit, and we save all the photos we take. Appended below is a QuickTime film called Distinctive Phoenix, The Movie. It’s a 35 minute exhibition of about 500 photos of homes, rooms, gardens and architectural ornaments — an exhibition of homes we thought were particularly striking.

This is our answer to complaints about a rigid sameness in architecture in the Valley of the Sun. These are the kinds of lovely, one-of-a-kind residences you can find here — if you are willing to look beyond your jaded expectations.

 

 Distinctive Phoenix, The Movie: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

What do you do when you have an impeccable little home in a friendly, blossoming historic neighborhood in the Coronado Historic District, and your home has everything going for it… brick walls, hardwood floors, claw-foot tub, except it doesn’t have a fireplace? Well the Deermers, the owners of this charming house at 1342 East Almeria Rd, shopped Wisconsin antique dealers to uncover this amazing faux hearth, fashioned from the tin ceiling of a Gay ’90s saloon.

The antique tub came from this same Wisconsin antique dealer. You can see photos of the tub and all the other wonderful touches the Deermers put into their home during their recent renovation and remodel at the custom site we built for this house.

We just listed this home for sale last weekend, and as we always do, we built the website to introduce the home to prospective buyers and to help those buyers remember all the special features the house offers. Even if you’re not in the market to buy the house, you should take a look at its website, if for no other reason than to get some great remodeling ideas. You’ll get to look at some before photos, and afters. For example, just take a peek at what the Deermers did to transform their bathroom from a tawdry, marble eyesore into this delightfully comfortable room with an historic sensibility.

Pictures certainly do tell a story, but sometimes a picture alone isn’t enough. For instance, here’s a photo of the bathroom ceiling:

But how did they get a tin ceiling into a 1950 Ranch? Well, there’s a story behind that. Most homes, especially historic homes and custom homes and luxury homes, have a story. And who better to tell that story than the owners? So, beginning with this listing, BloodhoundRealty.com agents will include a video on the home’s custom website, which interviews the owners for stories about the house. Where did that tin ceiling come from? Go to the Video Tour link to find out!

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Charles Pennington has the distinction of being the first brave soul to use the Show Us Your Home feature on this site. Actually, as magnificent as this beauty is, perhaps I’d be more precise to describe Mr. Pennington as being “proud” rather than “brave.”

You can see many more photos of Mr. Pennington’s Florida house, and read his comments here.

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Maizy loves F.Q. Story, and so do I.

There are so many things to love about Phoenix’s Historic Districts, which are filled with Distinctive Phoenix Homes. And, since this weblog is dedicated to Distinctive Phoenix, be sure to keep coming back, because we’ll be writing about those homes.

I am particularly fond of the F.Q. Story district. This was the first district designated as “historic” in Phoenix, as result of neighbors stirred to action by the ugly slash that the I-10 made through their picturesque neighborhood. F.Q. Story has large yards and charming old homes, going back to 1921. But one more thing that makes me partial to F.Q. Story is all of the animal lovers who live there. It is so sweet to walk down Culver St. and run into one after another beloved dog being walked by his proud person.

I would like to introduce you to one of those wonderful dogs, Maizy, as a way of introducing you to Maizy’s home on Willetta.

Maizy lives in a tastefully updated 1938 Spanish Revival home at 1118 W Willetta St.

Arches are essential to Spanish Revival architect, of course. But I’m always delighted by the clever and unique ways different Spanish Revival homes in Distinctive Phoenix express their arches. The arch between Maizy’s living room and dining room is an unusual stair-stepped arch.

S.F. “Jerry” Cook III and Tina Skinner have written an inspired book, including more than 500 period photographs that explore the Spanish Revival movement of the early 20th Century in their book, Spanish Revival Architecture

There is more, so much more to this picture-perfect home, where modern comforts are gracefully introduced to antiquity. Browse the many photos of 1118 West Willetta Street to see for yourself why this home was a recent recipient of the FQ Vision Award, and featured on the neighborhood’s home tour. See how Maizy’s people have their high-end stainless steel refrigerator talking to the antique Wedgewood stove. The living room with coved ceiling, hardwood floors and a wood burning fireplace is elegantly appointed with new plantation shutters and surround sound stereo. These are just examples, as you will see. Be sure not to miss the virtual tour link on this page.

The home is currently listed by Nathalie Hotong of RE/MAX Excalibur for $399,000. Don’t worry, Maizy will be moving to another lovely F.Q. Story home.

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