Blog Post 11-2-07

Quality is an enduring principle in many things but especially in real estate. There seems to be a trend developing (again) that the properties on the market that exemplify nice "character" are still attractive to potential home & land purchasers. This "character" is found not only in the macro sense i.e. the REGION where we live or are giving consideration to live in, but also in the micro sense of NEIGHBORHOOD, COMMUNITY, UNIVERSITY, MUSEUMS, EVENTS etc.

I have often advised clients to consider the "quality" or "character" of the real estate they are considering to purchase. The macro concept of REGION is already a given when clients contact me on buying land or homes in the Tubac Real Estate market. They have already been investigating this area and Tubac& Santa Cruz County are both compelling places to consider living... people have figured this out.

The more micro characteristics of a property are more subtle and can be viewed in different ways by people with differing interests. Some want close proximity to town and the events that they enjoy attending, others want to enjoy these events but are happier with the privacy afforded by living in the country far from the urban centers.

The most detailed consideration of a purchase decision is the distinctive nature of the property itself (well, and the cost of course). Here in Tubac as in some areas around Tucson, VIEWS are a primary consideration and working with a property that has exceptional views brings much of our satisfaction going forward with our purchase of real property.

Other enduring characteristics of importance in purchasing real estate in Tubac or Tucson are how a property can be developed, enhanced i.e. remodeled, or enjoyed as is without any major alterations. Our Southern Arizona Region is blessed with a great climate, one of the 5 "C"s that has created our regional economy. Can you name any of the five C's?  Southern Arizona has a CLIMATE that has been the foundation for a thriving real estate economy because it enables residents to have an active outdoor lifestyle much of the year. But even more than this, it is the desert, it's spare but impressive vegetation and especially the LIGHT from the clear sky that enlivens our surroundings and bathes the interiors of our homes.

Quality does endure and it even endures "down" real estate markets. If you purchase something of quality, you will be richly rewarded for this choice no matter at what level you purchase. Some of us will buy a home based on the home's character itself. If this is the primary factor that influences your choice it can be at many levels of price, either at the top end of the real estate market such as this Ventana Area home (map) that just sold for $8 million (AZ Starnet) Ventana-area home sells for $8 million or at other price points.

Quality endures at all levels of participation and it is discussed  in Conde Nast's PORTFOLIO.com in this article Starchitecture for a Song. View the slide show to see the homes that others have found around the country.

There are some very nice Tubac homes and only some of them will ever be for sale. It just might be why this downturn in the real estate market is not as structurally difficult as many people feel compelled to believe it is. Many times it is the land itself that can make for you the decision to bring inspiration and you or your architect's vision to bear. What I am getting at is that buying a quality parcel of land for your custom home is essential to building a quality project. The home itself is made better when placed upon and into the landscape that surrounds it. Here is an example of a straight forward parcel of property that when designed for and built out by a creative architect, really creates a quality property. This home exemplifies the concept & is a Rick Joy design for a stunning home in Tubac.

There are some very special Tubac Properties for sale that have the potential for an owner to create a true masterpiece. Some are Tubac Homes and others are Tubac land parcels. Your discovery of Tubac - the REGION can start the process of finding a property that simply cannot be reproduced anywhere else. A quality property is the first step.

Buy quality.... you will not be disappointed.

Blog Post 10-13-07

I have previously introduced in this blog Designing for the desert. Here is a really cool way to hear thinking by some of our well known architects who design for the desert.

I am only a little late in getting this out to you but next week is an opportunity for you to check in with local architects during Architecture Week 2007 put on by the AIA Southern Arizona chapter here in Tucson. "Growing Beyond Green" is the theme this year and a way to learn more about the role of architects in creating a sustainable and livable environment during the American Institute of Architects, Southern Arizona Chapter's Architecture Week, Saturday, October 13 to Sunday, October 21.

The series of panel discussions will discuss various topics at Tucson Branch Libraries around town. Learn about responsible desert architecture, how to make the most of a small house, and how buildings and water interact. Here is a link to the schedule of panel discussions.

If you have been contemplating adding on to your home or building your custom home here in Southern Arizona then finding out what is the latest thinking on Desert Architecture and sustainable practices is at hand for you to learn about. We don't often get the chance to listen to some really great architects discuss their philosophies and see some examples of how others have solved some of the problems that vex our living in a desert environment. I encourage you to make it to some of the discussions.

There are some public events scheduled also for this week. Here is a link to the AIA 2007 Architecture Week Events here in Tucson.

Lastly the week ends with this engaging tour of homes:

Sunday, October 21st – 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

15 th Annual Architecture Home Tour - A highlight of Architecture Week is the 15th Annual Architecture Home Tour on Sunday, October 21st, featuring a selection of homes throughout Tucson. The tour will primarily focus on local residential projects that utilize "green" elements/aspects in the architecture.

Home Tour tickets are on sale for $20. Proceeds will aid Habitat for Humanity to assist a local family in home ownership. Here is the link to purchase tickets for the Home Tour .

More people means more ideas. More ideas mean more opinions. More media options mean more access to these ideas and opinions.

When it comes to our homes and communities more people means more homes are contemplated, dreamed about and built. Where are we getting our inspiration from when it comes to considering the kinds of homes we would like to live in? Well, local magazine articles like those found in Tucson Lifestyle Home & Garden are a good source of inspiration and tend to bias our exposure to current trends and styles. Of course we have all purchased books on homes and kitchen & bath designs if we have been thinking about remodeling our home like those from Taunton Press. But there are now soooo many options as to where to derive inspiration from on the internet it is truely amazing.

I have been thinking about regional architecture and how now, it is becoming so influenced by important styles, designs and building techniques from all over, that the term regional is getting complicated. Arrol Gellner who writes for Inman News writes in a recent article Bugged by today's architecture  "There's only one cardinal sin in architecture, and that is not thinking."

There are lots of people with thoughts on home building but here is a blog post from the Inman News blog that is quite eye opening... and it has to do with building homes from recycled material.... Sounds interesting but...

With in this post by Todd Carpenter Guest post: Shipping containers as building material is a link to this CBS video which is surely going to make the point that Regional Architecture is changing along with Globalised markets. So, is this considered "thinking"? as Arrol Gellner discusses...?

Lawrence W. Cheek has an article linked to in the post above titled On Architecture: Transforming cargo containers into a weekend studio that ends with this "There isn't a lot of what we normally think of as architecture in this prototype. It isn't picturesque, refined or sensual, and its cultural associations are all about sweaty cargo ports and Chinese industrialization -- not exactly the stuff of home-sweet-home dreams. But it's a stunning reminder of what architecture ought to be about: solving some of civilization's thorniest problems by radically reconsidering the built environment."

Addis Containers in New Zealand has a portfolio of Container designed homes at the following url http://www.containerarchitecture.co.nz/index.html 

Arizona Regional Architecture is certainly changing to a more global perspective as our needs, styles and influences expand.

To go away or stay home...

This is a question for the Memorial Day Weekend coming up that many of us ask ourselves and family. Then again it's not only the holiday weekends that bring up this question. It comes up on numerous occasions as we consider travel to new areas and trying out resorts, lodges or camps.

I had the occasion to visit Big Bend National Park recently on a birding trip with my wife and friends and then visited the Davis Mountains to explore this beautiful area. We stayed at the Indian Lodge which is a unique inn located in Jeff Davis County northwest of Fort Davis within the bounds of Davis Mountains State Park. Built in the 1930s, it was opened to the public in 1939.

When we "discover" a new place with intriguing environments don't we all think, "wouldn't it be nice to have a place here?" We think about this seriously at least for a time and some of us actually make plans to come back and look for property maybe as a place to retire to permanently or to have a second home. It is an intriguing process, this finding our own space.

Others of us consider not having a second home but improving our own place or buying a principal place to live with the amenities we would like to live with. This is what some of us have been working on and we set out to make our own space something like the resorts, lodges or camps we have enjoyed visiting in our travels. Is this at-home resort life possible?

The concept of living with a pool as an architectural feature in your landscape is compelling and can create an atmosphere found in some resorts. There are some simple concepts of adding not only a pool but a "pool environment" that has caught on with homeowners where the landscape architect works to incorporate pool rooms as space that creates an outdoor/indoor integration. This is an extension to the ideas of creating outdoor living space that was touched on in an earlier post Outdoor Living Rooms.

Some homeowners are actually creating a resort at home with very luxurious pool houses with kitchens, baths and entertaining spaces so homeowners and their guests can mingle about & enjoy the experience. Indoor-outdoor design holds the added appeal of outdoor living with indoor comforts and is more attractive in warmer regions like Southern Arizona as where we are more apt to open the doors year-round.

A fireplace, whether indoor or outdoor, is another popular element of a pool house or backyard oasis. The fireplace is an ideal spot to gather for family time or assembling a group of friends rather than going out. Pool areas with comfortable furniture and outdoor fireplaces continue to gain popularity in Arizona since when the sun goes down the perceptible temperature can drop quickly. An article in RDB magazine on luxury pool houses shows just how exquisite some of these projects become. Some homeowners have actually achieved the feeling of arriving at their own personal resort as they have managed to design & build their own at-home oasis or purchased a home having this feeling.

Opportunity brought many people to Arizona as this desert land was colonized by peoples from Spain, Mexico and then eastern North America. They came for mining, ranching and agricultural enterprise and what they brought with each of them were methodologies to build their shelter.

Today we are fortunate to have a history and be able to witness the different ways people before us built their homes. We have such an advantage to learn from and maybe even work with "masters" who have become specialized in Desert Architecture.

An early contemporary who favored the desert environment for living and created living structures was Frank Lloyd Wright. I have been a member of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation for a few years and have the goal of someday visiting all of the restored homes that are open to the public. So far, I have visited and love his monumental work at Taliesin West in Scottsdale. The integration of indoor and outdoor space creates an "environmental experience" of living within the desert in Arizona. Vernon Swaback is interviewed for a show on Arizona PBS and gives a short but insightful look at the making of Wright's Taliesin West.

 You can take a tour literally by clicking on this link to Great Buildings.com and get a preview of this wonderful campus of structures. It is a nice site but seems only to have very well know structures and architects represented, so you won't find Will Bruder or Rick Joy.

Breezes vs Windy. It is an age old concern of many of us. I called a neighbor at the Salero Ranch who had been down from Phoenix for our annual Property Owners Association meeting on Saturday last and she told me she had left early for her return drive because of the windy conditions. If I had ever thought of that as being a factor for a drive I was going to make, I must have forgotten it. But she was right, Sunday was very windy at the ranch and she had a good point, why fight it?

When it comes to home design, there are ways to work with the indoor & outdoor space and professional designers & architects know how to gain the advantage when designing a project. It's not only wind but here in Arizona, it's the sun and solar orientation and sun angle through out the day that complicates a design. True to Arizona, as much time is spent in the outdoor spaces as indoors and this calls for some creative thinking.

An article in Sunset Magazine is linked here The meeting of indoors and out and it goes into the thoughts of a well respected Tucson Architect Paul Weiner. He has been working the outdoors in for many years with architecture around Tucson and runs his Design Build Collaborative company specializing in sustainable materials and architecture. His designs look to me both aged and ageless. There are few homes that blend in so well as Paul's designs do here in Southern Arizona.

I guess we can't "control" the weather, at least not to our liking, but we can design for its inevitability in the desert environment. Much of what is built today is not well thought out but it certainly becomes a Living Home if it is and is thought out creatively.

Let me know what your thoughts and experiences are with "natural architecture".