2012 ASLA ANNUAL MEETING & EXPO FS017 Residential Jewels in the Desert Fri 9/28 1PM Field Session

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1 2012 ASLA ANNUAL MEETING & EXPO FS017 Residential Jewels in the Desert Fri 9/28 1PM Field Session Presenter Please visit our website at for more information LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1- Design for the indoor/outdoor Lifestyle. 2- Use drought-tolerant plant materials and waterwise irrigation techniques. 3- Appreciate modern materials for their natural beauty.

2 PARADISE REVISITED Rector Residence 5921 E. Indian Bend Rd, Paradise Valley, AZ A group of professionals added to Nature s Glory in a teardown makeover of what had been a 1960 s Ranch- style home. The rebuilt residence offers not only more living space and finer amenities, it also ties together indoor and outdoor living. The large light-filled living room becomes one with a wellappointed outdoor room. Not far away, a separate covered dining pavilion with grill and built in pizza oven.

3 All about the property are vignettes of stone chairs for conversations; a table and chairs sculpture turned into a fountain; a hidden Rose garden and a negative edge swimming pool. The clients love to give parties and Greg created a large flat lawn for tents and catering access.

4 MEDITERRANEAN WITH A TWIST Hopper Residence 5901 E. Jean Ave, Phoenix, Arizona Dennis Hopper chose Greg Trutza to renovate their property at the foot of Camelback Mountain for their son s wedding. Having worked together with Greg on a number of projects, they wanted their yard, in addition to use for entertaining, to create a space for artists to display their work.

5 The site has magnificent palo verdes, mesquites and cactus that merge visually with the surrounding desert. The most striking feature in the landscape is the meandering desert aqueduct that symbolically brings the waters of life to this desert garden. It splashes down upon cubistic pedestals of antique noche stone that also serve as seat platforms to cool off in the chlorinated water. It was planted with masses of xeriscape specimens to create another level of texture and structural quality to the landscape.

6 ENCANTO - PALMCROFT RESIDENCE Encanto-Palmcroft was developed in the late 1920 s during an intense boom period in Phoenix. Following the completion of major dams that provided a consistent water supply, improved transportation facilities and the invention of air conditioning, Phoenix was transformed from an agricultural town to a thriving retail, professional and government center. Encanto-Palmcroft was heavily influenced by the City Beautiful movement that conveyed a romantic approach to planning and architecture. These period revival homes are knit together with unique street patterns, palm lined boulevards, unique street lights, a large regional park and a 27 hole golf course. Forbes magazine recently ranked Encanto Park as one of the top 10 city parks in the country with large lagoons, amusement park, sports complex and beautiful garden setting. This community, often referred to as Old Hollywood Style is one of the premiere emerging historic neighborhoods in Central Phoenix. Today it has been rediscovered by young families and diverse young professionals that choose to live close to the central city with its growing education, sports and arts community. This downtown neighborhood includes 330 homes with diverse styles that include Bungalows, Spanish Colonial, Art Deco, Cape Cod, Tudor, Mediterranean and Monterey vernaculars. This house, originally built in 1932 by a prominent local dentist, is a Mediterranean style home with two stories and a finished basement. The house has 12 thick brick walls, steel casement windows, hard wood floors and ornate crown moldings throughout. The two 80 foot tall Eucalyptus trees in the back yard were planted to celebrate the births of the original owner s two children. The current owner, a prominent local landscape architect, purchased the home in 2001 while touring downtown historic neighborhoods seeking inspiration for a major community (Verrado) that his firm was designing. The house was tired and run down both inside and out, but considered a unique opportunity for a thoughtful renovation. The homeowner, Steven Vollmer, peeled away decades of random influences to expose a stately home with strong architectural value. The landscape design is transitional to respect the surrounding lush green landscape with a responsible influence of low water use design. Most of the existing landscape was removed, short of the mature palms, some specimen exotic plants and the two large Eucalyptus. This house sits on a prominent corner with strong architectural value on both street frontages that needed to be addressed. Exterior renovations included the construction of a new guesthouse over the detached garage, a new glass tile swimming pool, decorative garden walls and an intimate cabana patio off the living and dining room. The relatively small back yard still needed to accommodate frequent social gatherings while maintaining a private, intimate character. The guest house was a complex approval process through historic preservation. The building incorporates large windows and balconies that open onto the back yard. Low pitched roofs and enhancements to the original garage also help make it feel like a garden structure. The swimming pool/spa is a

7 simple rectangular shape that is surrounded by naturalized flagstone with turf joints and a stone carved fountain that re-circulates and provides the soothing sound of running water. The property is shaded by mostly desert variety trees that include; Mesquite, Ironwood, Acacia, Palo Verde and Texas Mountain Laurel. The rear yard is semi enclosed by a tall Hopseed bush hedge. The front stair tower is framed by two matching Italian Cypress. The ground plane has a strong Mediterranean influence of yucca, aloe succulents, and exotic shrubs that help to create this urban oasis. The natural stone walkways in both the front and back of the house also help to reinforce the garden character. The turf areas were reduced from the original landscape, but still sweep around the property to maintain the fabric of the historic neighborhood and provide functional entertainment areas in the rear yard. For water conservation, the landscape areas were re-graded to direct limited rainfall into plants. The renovation also incorporated wide shallow swales around plants, a thick mulched top dressing to preserve moisture, a drip irrigation system with water efficient turf heads and rain sensor on the controller. The owner has a summer house back East and typically allows the lush winter flower beds and lawn areas to go mostly dormant during the extreme heat of the summer. This is a very welcoming home to live in. Winter and Spring seasons are the best times of year when you can open the house onto the gardens. Being located in the middle of a major city, it s a quiet sanctuary that is close to most city services. The neighborhood is very friendly, people are very active, interact together and appreciate the quality of a true community. Vollmer & Associates l landscape architects 1426 North 2 nd Street Suite 200 Phoenix, AZ Specializing in regionally appropriate Sonoran landscape design stevev@vollmerinc.com