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Desert Craft

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Desert Craft

Combining two architectural styles can cause either visual delight or a horrific clash. In the end, this blend of craftsman style with the Southwest creates a comfortable environment for all.


By Laura Butalla, Senior Editor April 30, 2006
This article first appeared in the CB May 2006 issue of Custom Builder.

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Custom Luxury Residence

Walking up the long, brick driveway of this custom-built home reveals a unique blend of architecture.

"The client is originally from the Oregon coast, and he loved the Craftsman influence," says Deborah Malone, president of JP Malone Construction.

The home's E-Crete exterior provides the adobe look, and a mix of stone brings in the Craftsman style. The two styles blend to offer an innovative architectural feel. An old-world look edged with natural material, and the interlocking exterior beams combined with real stone to emulate an earthy, pulled-together look and provide intricate, eye-catching details. "The client wanted something that looked like it wasn't built yesterday," Malone says.

 
This custom home is designed with E-Crete to form the Adobe-style exterior. The client wanted to blend Craftsman style into the mix by adding natural stone to the exterior fo the home.
Design Concept

Combining two architectural styles can cause either visual delight or a horrific clash. Malone's team wanted to be precise in the dimension and size of the home to make the blend successful and add the influence of its surrounding. "The craftsman and tapered columns we did with a stucco flare," Malone says. "We also wrapped our beams with copper flashing to last longer because we're dealing with the desert heat," Malone says.

Natural materials used in untypical ways offer additional visual interest. A stained, tumbled-brick floor runs through a portion of the home to create the look of a 100-year-old floor. The brick is introduced again as the back splash in the kitchen and makes up the Rumford fireplace in the keeping room. Mesquite wood floors dominate a portion of the flooring, too.

"We were very cautious of where we are, and we brought a lot of indigenous products into the home," Malone says.

 
The brick driveway leading to the home's main entrance complements the Craftsman style.
The interior walls and ceilings consist of Venetian plaster mixed with marble paste and color pigments to create the old-adobe look. Hand-hewn coffered beam ceilings blend well with the Venetian plaster to accentuate that old-world feel.Unique Spaces & Features

Malone says one of the most unique features of the entire home is in the study. The client wanted to watch television in a more secluded room than the great room. Providing a space in the study was the solution. "The great room is too big, and if you're there by yourself or with one person, you'll never feel comfortable," Malone says.

Besides the television viewing area, the client also wanted a study, library and a place for his computer. The combination of the four became one large room, the study. Malone's team created a built-in nook within the study that worked as a recessed armoire for the office portion. By closing the door to the nook, the office space is no longer visible. U-shaped custom cabinetry lines the back wall to make a library. Custom theater seating sits in front of the cabinetry for private television viewing, too.

 

An interlocked coffered beam ceiling in the great room and kitchen highlights the Craftsman theme. The kitchen houses a copper countertop, sink and hood. Beyond the kitchen is the keeping room, an adult version of a breakfast nook. The fireplace and seating area complete this keeping room space.

The great-room design carries Craftsman architecture into the large space. The exterior stone reappears in the fireplace while the interlocked coffered beam ceiling adds detail to the room. Adding to the look and feel of the room, the client displays a pool table with deep cherry wood legs. Next to the pool table sits a mesquite poker table, in place of a dining room table, to match the mesquite wood floor. "To everybody else that goes in there, it's a dining room table," Malone says.

The other half of the great room leads into the keeping room and kitchen area. The keeping room is a breakfast nook for adults. A large brick Rumford fireplace opens to a seating area with a wraparound couch and ottoman. Built-in cabinetry appears on either side of the fireplace. The left cabinet contains fold-back doors with a 50-inch television.

The kitchen details deliver a unique look with a copper countertop, farmhouse sink and hood. According to Malone, the same artisan that made the countertop and sink also built the hood.

The master retreat incorporates clean lines that give an organic feeling to it. "It's something [Frank Lloyd] Wright would be proud of with clean lines, cabinets made to look like furniture pieces," Malone says.

The master bathroom features a Frank Lloyd Wright influence with its stained-glass window coverings. "We took an adaptation of the tree of life that he did, but we did it in sand-blasted glass panels," Malone says. The master bathroom has a view of the mountains, the sunset and the golf course, but 70 feet away is another home. Privacy in the bathroom made the sandblasted glass detail very important.

 
The master bathroom shows off a Frank Lloyd Wright influence with an adaptation of his tree of life in the stained-glass winsow treatment.
Hurdles & Outcomes

A significant problem the designer needed to overcome began in the initial designing of the site plan. The site originally housed the sales office trailer for the newly opened area for Desert Mountain named Lost Star. To give potential buyers the sense of views surrounding the area, the land was built up around the sales office. In addition, the previous owner had placed a retaining wall on the property.

This changed the contour of the site, but Malone's team took that into consideration. "When you're sitting in the backyard, the fence is tall enough that you don't see traffic, but you see the views," Malone says.

In the end, this blend of craftsman style with the Southwest creates a comfortable environment for all. "Everyone that comes in is comfortable," Malone says.

 

 

Custom Luxury Residence

Style of Home: Craftsman, Southwest

Location: Scottsdale, Ariz.

Total Square Footage: 3,850 square feet

Architect/Builder: JP Malone Construction, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Interior Designer: Jan Anderson, Carefree, Ariz.

Major Products Used: APPLIANCES: Viking; CABINETRY: Hand-crafted onsite by builder; COUNTERTOPS: Granite and Copper; WINDOWS AND DOORS: exterior — Kolbe Windows and Doors; interior, Custom; LIGHTING FIXTURES: Kircher EXTERIOR FINISH: E-Crete

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