A Lamborghini of Homes
Downshift to first and upgrade into autom0tive paradise.
This elegant, handcrafted home in Fountain Hills features an upper six-car and lower two-car garage, both temperature controlled. The lower houses the owner’s prized 2015s: an Audi R-8 V-10 and the fighter-jet-inspired Lamborghini Huracán with custom striping articulating the car’s sinuous lines.
The upper garage has a short stairway to an ensuite room which could flex as an office, man-cave space or quarters for an au pair, maid or chauffeur. And, through extensive dual-pane windows, the 180-degree mountain and town-lights views are similar to those in the main living areas.
The owner points to both garage floors: “Where else do you see this, even in other luxury homes with multi-car garages?” Both are finished in Natural Walnut travertine, matching the flooring throughout home.
Outside the garages are six auto court spaces. This area looks out over a deep, wide wash, a land feature which characterizes the small town east of Scottsdale named for its world-famous fountain, one of the world’s highest.
Because of the large 3.3-acre hilltop lot, most of this undeveloped, the new owner could build another 1,800-square-foot garage, perhaps cantilevering over the wash. “I thought about doing this,” the owner says. “The lower level would have been a car shop.”
And, at the approach to the home, inside a custom wrought-iron gate, a porte-cochere welcomes friends, family and business associates with style, panache and cover from the desert sun.
“This is your new home,” says Frank Aazami, owner of the Private Client Group for Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty in Scottsdale. He is co-listing with David Arustamian, also with the Private Client Group. “Come see it in person and experience its unmatched elegance and commitment to detail and craftsmanship. This is a home worthy of your classics –– and you.”
Hilltop Living at the Highest Level
A few minutes from Shea Boulevard, and the restaurants, shops, cultural venues and medical facilities of Scottsdale, the 8,550-square-foot livable home, 11,500 under roof, is aptly addressed as 15647 North Cerro Alto (“High Mountain”) Drive.
In the opposite direction, Shea Boulevard also quickly connects to the Beeline Highway, State Route 87, which accesses the landmark Mogollon Rim and mountains of northern Arizona or the growing cities of the East Valley to the south.
Built in 2002 following the owner’s design, the Santa Barbara/Tuscan-style single-level has two palatial masters and three additional bedrooms, all ensuite, which could also be variously used for a nursery, offices or other needed space.
One master has an expanded his-and-hers closet, an exercise room, which the wife also uses as a sewing room, and an expansive his-and-hers shower featuring a radiused frosted door which has been hand etched with a bouquet of calla lilies. The other master has one of the home’s three fireplaces. Both bedrooms have showers, jetted tubs and double sinks.
For guests, a resplendent powder room, with a custom mirror and triple bullnosed granite countertop, is next to the formal dining room. This is on one side of the dramatic foyer with its hand-painted gold-leaf ceiling, six wall niches and concentric ovals of granite inlaid in the travertine. “Everywhere you look in this home, there’s an inspiring view either of the interior finishes or outside to the mountains,” the owner says.
On the opposite side of the foyer is a theater room, seating 12. The ceiling is appropriately starlit, created by black-light; the retro floral carpeting recalls the expressive style used in 20th-century neighborhood movie theaters, if you remember.
The winding hallway is finished in natural-textured and -colored faux stone, hand-troweled plaster and hand-painted designs; custom light sconces add to the European stylishness. Here, too, are more wall niches for small sculptures, flowers or other artworks.
Next to one of the masters is an Italian-inspired 750-bottle wine cellar with arches setting off different varietals in hexagonal storing bins: Bordeaux, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay. Scrolled across a sculpted cluster of grapes is the motto, “Live Well, Love Much, Laugh Often.” Above this is a barrel ceiling that looks plucked from the grotto of a centuries-old Tuscan home. And, a contemporary climate control unit ensures that each sip is right for you, family and friends.
The central living area of the home is an expansive connected space comprising the kitchen, breakfast nook, great room and a billiards/media room. These areas can be furnished to create intimate vignettes for your lifestyle, as the owners have done.
In the kitchen are world-class appliances such as the built-in SubZero refrigerator/freezer and dual gas Dacor ovens and cooktop. Additional appliances accommodate even well-populated guest lists as does the large central island, perfect for buffet service. For parties, this area opens to the covered patio, which continues the elegant travertine flooring from inside.
This great room has exalted views south to the San Tan Mountains and famed Superstitions in the East Valley, Red Mountain, the McDowells and 7,000-feet-plus Four Peaks in the Scottsdale area and north to the Mazatzals and its pinnacle, Mount Ord, also exceeding 7,000 feet.
Every hour on the hour, the owners can see the famous fountain, built by the developer 50 years ago, thrust up more than 500 feet. In the afternoon, the view of the fountain five miles away is particularly impressive, as the sun darts through the water against the lit-up mountains beyond.
“Fountain Hills is the best-kept secret in the Valley,” the owner says. “It’s a great little community with good shopping, schools and parks and a preserve for hiking and biking. And, I can be downtown Scottsdale in 20 minutes and at Sky Harbor [International Airport] in a half hour.”
The expansive mountain views here cannot be duplicated in the Valley, even in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, he adds. And, with morning and afternoon breezes from the mountains and wash and the elevation, the home is five to seven degrees cooler than lower-lying parts of the Valley.
That’s also true in the mild Valley winters. His wife notes that early this year, the home and hills in the area were lightly dusted in snow for a day, a rare occurrence. “Everyone was making snowmen in the desert!” she says.
Outside is a resort-style back yard with details such as firebowls, desert landscaping and extensive boulders. Ask the husband if the house has a pool. He replies, “No,” then pauses. “It has three pools.”
All heated, they are connected by a stream, formed of durable Pebble-Sheen and finished with river rocks for authenticity. The upper and lower pools are for dipping and swimming; the intermediate is a spa. A shallow area offers a place for children; the swim-up bar is for the adults. In this area is also a built-in barbecue and outdoor kitchen for everyday and entertaining needs.
The home exemplifies the Arizona lifestyle. “Walk this home, experience its hilltop privacy and incomparable views,” Arustamian says. “You’ll appreciate it for the one-of-a-kind home it is.”
Elegance2 and Details2
A former company owner, the husband designed the home, engaged a local firm to draw the plans for city approval and served as the general contractor. “Then I found the best people to do the job.”
New Jersey natives, the husband and wife plan to downsize in Fountain Hills, sharing time with their children and grandchildren nearby in Fountain Hills and New England.
Much of the inspiration and many of the artworks and other appointments derive from the husband’s travels throughout Europe. “The house was built to our taste, including the finishes and the details,” he says. “We wanted it a certain way.”
The new owners of this home will appreciate that “way”: an uncompromised commitment to hand-worked details that will not be found in any other home.
The walls are hand-applied faux finishes. Inspired by the Old World sconces, the owner asked a local artist to create a similar theme throughout the home, including the hallway and above the great room bar. Applied to the plaster, these designs have been cleverly shaded for three-dimensional effect, adding to the grandeur of the home. In addition, fine chocolate-brown pebblework has been applied to enhance the texture.
All of the walls, not just the verticals, have been bullnosed. This includes the ceiling corners which have been radiused, a rarely seen effect. “The faux- and artwork took about 11 months,” the owner says.
Similarly, the travertine floors and inlays required a year to ensure exact fit and finish. The walls of both master showers, for example, are also travertine with inlaid granite designs. These are meticulously extended around walls corners and into the soap niche.
The husband selected the faux stone in the hallway, great room area and kitchen and elsewhere. Individually cast in concrete, the vari-sized pieces were delivered in lots, then placed, cemented and glazed. He watched as each piece was set: “I know every one of the stones.”
Similarly, outside around and above the pools, five large flatbeds brought large boulders, which were then hoisted into place, requiring two days. The owner was there to place them correctly. “The boulders are part of the theme. In the distance are the mountains, and here at the home are other hills that connect with the larger setting,” he explains.
Only select alder was used for the millwork and raised-panel doors. “No knots,” the owner says. “They always appear at the worst time.”
Throughout the home’s bathrooms, inlays match the triple-bullnosed countertops. The entry bar top has an old-style custom armrest. His chosen granite vendor said it couldn’t be done in stone. The husband told him it could be, and he’d pay for it. “There’s no skimp and save anywhere in this home,” he says.
“This level of detail and craftsmanship is rarely seen, even in the finest homes anywhere,” Aazami says. “This home needs to be seen but also to be touched and to be heard, to be experienced. It has everything you need to enjoy the life you dreamed of in Arizona.”
This estate home is offered at $3,000,000, and furnishings can also be purchased through negotiation with the owner. See the listing at FountainHillsLuxuryEstate.com. For an appointment, call or text Frank Aazami, 480.266.0240, or email at frank@pcgagents.com. David Arustamian can be reached by phone or text at 480.331.0707 and by email, david.arustamian@russlyon.com.
