Rio Verde Residence

The house will be part of a large family compound on 8 acres in northern Maricopa County. The goal was to create a welcoming home with large outdoor living spaces that open up to the natural beauty of the property. Cooking with family/friends and entertaining are the central focus of the home. Horses and other pets are an integral part of their life and they need to be integrated into the development.

The property has lush high desert trees, cacti and vegetation along the main and minor washes on site. There are spectacular 360-degree views out from the property. We selected a large flat area, north of the arroyo to site the main house. This allows easy access off the main road, provides great solar orientation, capture views in all directions and minimizes the damage to the sensitive desert site. The barns, RV storage, stables and paddocks were located at the east end of the site off the secondary street.

The site is a large L-shaped property divided by a large wash with several smaller washes. Along the northern Street, there are two large rock piles placed illegally and damaged the site and re-directed water flow on the site. The first issue was to remove this rock piles and restore the natural flow of the site. We selected the northeast section of the site, north of the wash, to develop this first phase of the project.

This phase includes a custom home with a large work shop and attached guest home. It also includes a freestanding pool area, pool house, horse stalls and support structures for 6 horses. Future phases will include homes for the families of the adult children. The common pool area and stables will be utilized by the entire family. The buildings are located around the perimeter of the site to minimize disruption to the natural topography of the property and save the existing vegetation and the wash.