Arizona Home & Design (May-June 2008)
Arizona Home & Design Magazine
“Enter this Paradise Valley home at your own enjoyment”
By: Melanie Winderlich
A “fun house” is that topsy-turvy, carnival staple that bewilders guests with twisted mirros and silly gags. But what about a fun estate – one in which an elegant residence is not only stylish, but also fun for the whole family?
The 15,000 square-foot (under roof) home on Invergordon Road in Paradise Valley achieves the difficult task of making a palatial retreat fun. Eagle Custom Builders’ Villa Esperanza shows how luxury and amusement accentuate each other.
“The refreshing thing (about this home) is that it was designed with only one thing in mind – for the pure benefit and happiness of its family,” says interior designer Claire Ownby, owner of Ownby Design in Scottsdale Arizona, who designed the home. “There are still really neat elements, like being a ‘smart house’ and having an audio/visual room to store all the tech components, but in the end, this inspiration was family-focused and youthful.”
This Santa Barbara-inspired abode with a contemporary twist was originally built as a spec home. But when the future homeowners, who wish to remain anonymous, saw the estate, they purchased the property and let their personal requests be known, letting the F-words fly: fun, family, friendly, fish tanks.
The enormous aquarium near the kitchen, in addition to the features such as a half-basketball/tennis court and a fully loaded multipurpose room with a projector screen and flat screen, air hockey table and arcade, demonstrate that fun can still be beautiful.
Architect Luis Bonilla of Antigua Home Designs Inc. says the arcade was originally designed as a simple rotunda. After hearing the clients’ requests, Ownby converted this windowless room into a gamer’s fantasy with blacklight-reflective pain, custom carpet with metallic weaving to reflect the blacklight, artificial plants and tons of games.
“Lots of the rooms we work on are serious, so my favorite projects are those that make the space be about the experience for the family and guests and spending quality time together,” Ownby says.
The living areas of the five-bedroom house and two-bedroom, detached guest house are bathed in a neutral palette of rust, yellow, gold and ivory. Each area is then delineated with a punch of color as this design scheme travels throughout the home. The color scheme places special importance on properly highlighting the owners’ extensive art collection. The more than 50 pieces in various mediums and movements posed a specific challenge to Ownby; she carefully selected custom framing and matting and strategically placed similar styles together to give a sense of order and a way for the art to tell a story as guests walk through the house.
“This house is a statement,” says Jim Audiss, president of Eagle Custom Builders. “The flow of the house is incredible; you don’t get consumed by the space.”
The fun continues outside with a luxurious backyard overlooking Camelback and Mummy mountains. Parents can enjoy spectacular views from their private, upstairs loggia overlooking the backyard, while children perform their best cannonballs off the diving platform into the custom pool. Water features such as the negative-edge pool, Italian limestone fountains, spa and dynamic waterfalls create and outdoor entertainment area that’s fun for those of all ages.
Though this fun house showcases custom-framed glass mirrors instead of twisted, plastic ones, and a stately library full of books instead of silly gags, both “houses” celebrate the same things – fun, togetherness and the amusement park we call life.