Archive for the 'Modern Homes' Category
Where can you find stylish mid-century executive homes? North Central, sure. Camelback, Arcadia and Scottsdale, definitely. But had you thought of looking Litchfield Park, in the far West Valley?
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.
No commentsIn a city known for its bland architecture, Phoenix can claim a very proud distinction in the unique mid-century modern homes of Ralph Haver
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…
No commentsSunnyslope Home Tour This Weekend: Communing With The Soul of Sunnyslope
By: Cathleen CollinsNovember 12th, 2008
Category: All About Phoenix,Architects,Distinctive Homes,Events,Historic Homes,Modern Homes,Neighborhood News
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.
Back to the future in North Central Phoenix? In the Missouri corridor, 1322 East Vermont Avenue is as cool as the Phoenix of the fifties
Phoenix is the best-named city in the wild and wooly West. We are the Thunderbird, rising always anew from our ashes, a constant state of reinvention. Surging ever outward — and lately even upward — we are too much the City of Tomorrow ever to spare a thought for the city we were yesterday.
And yet…
That city we were yesterday had its charms… Mostly we recall them through the good offices of PBS Channel 8. At fund-raising time, we get to catch a few brief glimpses of the Phoenix we paved over decades ago. A Phoenix where kids played in the street and swam in each other’s backyard pools. Where their older brothers and sisters cruised Central Avenue — ragtops down and the radios all tuned to the same station. Between the dusty little nineteenth-century town of Phoenix and the vast megalopolis that Phoenix has become, there was a shady oasis in the desert where prosperous people perfected the fine art of suburban living.
Here’s the good news: It’s still there. Everything changes in Phoenix, it seems like every day. But North Central Phoenix endures. In the late forties, through the fifties and early sixties, as Phoenix was surging outward in its first great growth spurts, some very wise people built big, sturdy homes right in the heart of everything. On both sides of Central, between the Canals, North Central Phoenix took root in the desert soil — and took root in the hearts of the people who built it.
Land that had been irrigated orange groves became rich irrigated lawns instead. And the trees that grew from that water spread a thick canopy of shade over the land. And houses made of concrete block were built one-by-one — modern and roomy, with high-ceilings and wide-open sight lines. And big back yards. And pools and barbecues and basketball hoops and volleyball nets.
And here’s the even better news: You can have a house just like that. There aren’t very many to be had, and North Central can be a pricey neighborhood. But the house we’re talking about, 1322 East Vermont Avenue, in the Madison United Neighborhood along the Missouri Avenue corridor, is everything you could wish for in a mid-century modern ranch home in North Central Phoenix — at a price you can afford.
My job is to sell houses — you didn’t know? — but we don’t sell homes we don’t love. We want to understand the houses we represent like works of art, each one unique and unrepeatable. The web site for this home features hundreds of photos, and we even went so far as to build a virtual coffee table book for this property, so that you can send it off to friends and family.
There’s so much more I could talk about, but that’s why we built such an elaborate web site for this home, so that you can see absolutely everything there is to know about it. We’ve always built an interactive floorplan into our web sites, but for 1322 East Vermont, for the first time, we’ve also built in a virtual remodeling feature. I happen to think that kitchen rocks the way it is, but if you’d like to try a different look, the virtual remodeling software makes it easy.
I could go on all day, but — let’s face it — a house either sells itself or it doesn’t. What we have is a spacious, well-kept mid-century modern ranch home on a big irrigated lot in the Missouri Avenue corridor of North Central Phoenix. You’re minutes from Downtown, seconds from the Biltmore. If you’re in love with an older Phoenix, or with that flaming Thunderbird that was always born just yesterday, this home is not for you. But if you long for that Phoenix of the fifties, that cool and comfortable suburban lifestyle perfected by our parents — give me a call. You don’t have to wait around for the fund-raisers on Channel 8. That shady oasis of a Phoenix still exists — and it can be yours…
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2 commentsAnyone Who Had a Heart Would Connect a Country Music Singer, a Jazz Standard and Burt Bacharach together with one smooth line
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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2 commentsPhoenix, Usonian
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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4 commentsBeg, borrow or steal… Picturing modern design.
I ran across this beautiful blog, which could serve as a delectable side dish to the feast that is the Modern Phoenix Neighborhood Network.
The author, Miki Kimuro, describes the blog as
Modern Design, Modern Architecture and Lifestyle Goodies: publishers of beautiful bling with an organic twist.
I would have loved to show an image from this blog, to give you a sample of the beautiful graphics here, but I couldn’t figure out how to contact Kimuro to get permission to copy a picture or two. So you’ll just have to click on over to take a gander for yourself.
Now. On the matter of modern-style, Greg and I will be listing a fifty-year old house later this month.
To help prepare the home for market, I’ve been keeping my eyes open for affordable mid-century pieces to help stage the home, and was tickled to run across this beautiful, modern coffee table on Craig’s List.
The photo is from the Craig’s List ad… I haven’t reassembled it yet to shoot my own. But… you get the picture!
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No commentsKiss that frog! Refurbished North Central Phoenix ranch home turns a fairly ordinary house into a luxury retreat
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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1 commentPhoenix envy? Dwell with local architect, Will Bruder
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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No commentsDistinctive Phoenix, The Movie: Uniquely beautiful homes beyond all expectations
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.
April Showers Bring May Flowers…
… This was the refrain I learned as a child growing up in Northfield, Ohio — a suburb that developed at the midpoint between two erstwhile industrial giants, Akron and Cleveland. I suppose April showers bring May flowers was a mantra made to pacify lively children, who had been forced inside too long during a bitter winter off Lake Erie, into staying inside yet another month during the dank, gray days of early spring.
But here we are, in our Phoenician paradise where we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day in nearly 100° temperatures!
If like me, you’re tired of looking at your frost-damaged landscape, be patient just a little longer. The Arizona Republic warned us to “hold the shears.”
So what about getting a jump on enjoying why so many of us moved to Arizona… the beautiful weather and forever-green yards? There are some wonderful garden events coming up.
Be sure not to miss The Encanto Palmcroft Historic Home Tour and Street Fair, this Saturday from 10 AM to 4 PM. Tickets are $18, on sale at Phoenix College.That is, unless you’re taking in the Master Gardener Garden Tour, also this Saturday from 9 AM to 4 PM. This tour is of gardens in the Camelback Corridor that have been designed, planted and maintained by Master Gardeners from the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. If you don’t already have your tickets, you can buy them the day of the tour for $20 at Squaw Peak Elementary School, where the first garden in the tour will be on display.
Or, for a taste of Mid-century Modern Phoenix, plan on attending the Third Annual Modern Phoenix Home Tour and Expo. Seminars will run all day Saturday, with a self-guided tour of Ralph Haver’s Marlen Grove from 2 to 5 PM on Sunday.
But, oh-oh: 
Well, March showers can be a welcomed respite from all the heat! So I hope you’re able to take full advantage of this weekend’s annual events. And in the coming weeks, don’t forget the other events posted in the Republic. And, as the rains subside, bringing our desert into bloom, do try to make a point of visiting our incomparable Desert Botanical Garden.
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1 comment
