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Luxury Communities in Arizona

The metro-Phoenix area of Arizona has a booming real estate market, and plenty of distinct neighborhoods to choose from. Location is a major issue with real estate. Luxury homes are readily available throughout the Biltmore area, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, and the rest, but choosing the right community is as important a decision as choosing the house itself. Thomas Osterman specializes in luxury homes in the metropolitan area's finest cities. Read below about the communities in which he specializes to get a better idea of each area's nature.

Arcadia

This is a breathtaking neighborhood, where chorus lines of manicured palms tower over lush emerald lawns.  The Arcadia area is bounded by 44th Street to 64th Street and from the southern slopes of Camelback Mountain to Indian School Road.

Sprawling old postwar ranches with lavish yards are Arcadias’ trademark.  A trend in recent years has been buy the 1950s and 1960s ranches, tear them down and build something more contemporary.  Arcadia is the best in classic Phoenix living.  Sitting out by the pool under an orange tree or gazing at the mountain in moonlight, Arcadia cats a spell like no other neighborhood in the Valley of the Sun.

The traditional Arcadia home is a four or five bedroom mid-century ranch surrounded by citrus trees.  Swimming pools, old-growth landscaping and enormous lots are the norm.  Manny homes have quest houses and almost no one has desert landscaping.  Although Arcadia is almost all single family homes, there are a few beautiful townhouse complexes along Camelback Road and along the Arizona Canal.

Biltmore

The relationship between the Arizona Biltmore and its surrounding neighborhood is classically symbiotic; the neighborhood has always retained it’s status because the resort has thrived.  Set on 39 acres at the foot of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve, the Biltmore accommodates 738 guests and boasts eight swimming pools, seven tennis courts, two 18- hole golf courses and a European spa.

The area does appear charmed as if endless lawns manicure themselves and dead leaves fly elsewhere to drop.  The Biltmore area is the Grande Old Dame of Phoenix, in a couple of other respects too; you’re going to pay dearly to experience it and it’s going to worth every penny.

Secluded, old world Spanish Colonial Revival estates, gracious golf course patio homes and leafy condo complexes with courtyard fountains are all typical Biltmore dwellings.  The neighborhood is generally located between Camelback Road to Lincoln Drive and 24th Street to 32nd Street.

Carefree

Carefree is a small resort town north of Scottsdale and was one of Arizona’s first planned communities.  It’s a gorgeous town surrounded by dramatic mountains and dotted with prehistoric boulder stacks and lush desert vegetation.  Natural beauty and exclusive custom homes help make Carefree the second most expensive area in metro Phoenix, surpassed only by Paradise Valley.

Wildlife like coyotes, javelina and jackrabbits roam the quite roads.  And quite and wealthy desert living, without Scottsdale’s frenzy and traffic, is what Carefree living is all about.  Most residents are retired or well-to-do snow-birds, but either way, it’s a golf–and-gallery culture.

Three, four, five and even $6 million dollar homes are common in Carefree.  Santa Fe contemporary is a popular style, while traditional homes can feature Southwestern-style exposed wood beams, courtyard fountains and wall niches for santos.  Condos and townhouses start in the $300,000s and there is hardly anything available in mid-range single family homes.

Cave Creek

Cave Creek didn’t get electricity or phones until 1946.  This small town north of Scottsdale and next door to Carefree still has plenty of Old West feel.  Many roads are dirt and Honky-tonks with names like Buffalo Chip Salon and the Horny Toad still line the main drag.  It’s not uncommon to see people on horse back clopping through town.

That rustic Western ambience has not happened by accident.  Wags like to say “Cave” stands for “Citizens Against Virtually Everything.”  Creekers like their roads dirt, their businesses small and Scottsdale at arms length.  And that is why Cave Creek is such a beautiful place to live today; preserved with foresight and passion, it may well represent the best in true Arizona living.

Like the residents, Cave Creek homes are an interesting mix.  Properties range from trailers to multi-million dollar luxury homes, but what they all have in common is expensive land beneath them.  Cave Creek is more of a resort community now and land prices are comparably expensive.  Even the oldest residence comes with a price tag north of $400,000.

Fountain Hills

Fountain Hills sits off by itself in the northeastern corner of the Valley.  Surrounded by a mountain range and two Indian reservations, it has a distinctly small town sense of place.  It’s kind of sleepy; there’s not much entertainment (or crime); and its central feature – the World’s Tallest Fountain – harkens to the roadside attraction park-and-gawk genre of Americana.

Residents love the fact that Scottsdale’s bright lights are only 20 minutes away; Scottsdale’s construction, traffic and manic pace don’t follow them back over the mountain.  Superstition Mountain views are extraordinary and it’s easy to sell in Fountain Hills in winter when Four Peaks is covered in snow.

This is not cookie-cutter country.  Seventy-five percent of the homes are custom built.  Besides Phoenix, Fountain Hills has the most diverse housing stock in the Valley.  Lots are big and streets are wide.  The town is built on a series of small hills and ridges so neighborhoods aren’t grids of monotony.  It’s not a Gucci ghetto either; townhouses and patio homes add to the area’s diversity.

Paradise Valley

Paradise Valley is one of the country’s 50 wealthiest communities and one of only three not on either coast.  Athletes, actors and corporate executives all live there.  Paradise Valley sits atop mountains in the middle of the city and seems to float above the rest of the Valley.  The desert setting is idyllic and the views are forever.

Wealthy people have always been attracted to the area because of its natural beauty, large lots and proximity to town.  Paradise Valley started out as a rural location with a few genteel dude ranches, where residents rode their horses to visit neighbors.  Most of the horses are gone now, and many of the 5-acres parcels have been subdivided.  But, commerce remains limited to churches, schools, resorts and medical offices.

Architecture is an interesting jumble of styles.  Brick ranches built in the 1950’s, front yards thick with cactus and bramble, sit nest to pillared white mansions with manicured lawns and topiaries.  Modern masterpieces of glass and steel cling to hillsides.  Many properties are well hidden behind gates, long driveways and thick oleander hedges.  Desert landscaping is a hallmark.  Rabbits and quail are common sites skittering behind creosote bushes.  Paradise Valley homes cost twice as much as those in Carefree and almost three times more than Scottsdale homes.

Phoenix, North Central

North Central Phoenix rivals any of the fine neighborhoods in Paris or Vienna.  Rows and rows of ash trees tower over canals and the gates of some of Arizona’s most distinguished homes.  The Murphy Bridle Path, established when Wyatt Earp was Tombstone’s sheriff, is still used today by women in jodhpurs.  The area doesn’t look much different in historic photos than it does now.  North Central isn’t the Phoenix of the Wild West; it’s the Phoenix of model Ts and houses with striped awnings.

Geographically, it’s a two and a half mile-long historic streetscape running between 7th Avenue and 7th Street from Bethany Home Road to the Arizona Canal.  The city council recently placed the Central Avenue area on the city’s historic property register, citing its 110 years of history and thereby protecting it from “inappropriate” development.

Scottsdale, Central

Generally located between Chaparral Road and the Central Arizona Project Canal, Central Scottsdale has its fair share of golf courses, shopping and resorts, but it’s dominated by housing of all stripes.  Golf course and lakefront executive homes, single family ranch homes built in the 1960s and 1970s, Retro Sunbelt condos and patio homes ripe for rehabbing; all of them replete with swimming pools, palm trees and sunshine.  This is the Scottsdale from the ads.

Central Scottsdale is dominated by three master-planned communities built in the 1970s and 1980s.  McCormick Ranch is very green with mature trees, lawns and tropical palms, and sports 130 acres of man-made lakes and two 18-hole golf courses.  Impeccably landscaped and maintained, Scottsdale Ranch has a 42 acre lake and properties ranging from one-bedroom condominiums to multi-million dollar homes.  Gainey Ranch is an exclusive gated golf community with homes ranging from genteel condos to lavish showplaces.

Scottsdale, North

North Scottsdale is one of the nation’s 12 most expensive second-home markets.  Only in Paradise Valley and the Biltmore Estates are homes pricier.  You don’t see builder’s’ signs reading “From the Low $1,000,000s” anywhere else in the Valley.

No exact boundaries exist, but North Scottsdale is generally defined as the area north of the Central Arizona Project Canal.  It’s the Bel Air of the desert, an enclave of retired CEOs and tycoons of one sort or another.  North Scottsdale is all about status; European SUVs, polo matches, golf tournaments and $38 steaks.

Many of the state’s most up-market communities are here, with private golf courses, custom homes and 24-hour guard-gated communities, mostly nestled around the base of Pinnacle Peak, North Scottsdale’s most distinctive landmark.

Homes are mostly newer; ten years and less and they’re large and lavish.  Some have guesthouses larger than most central Phoenix homes.  Santa Fe contemporary is a popular architectural style, with its clean, timeless desert lines.  Building and aesthetics regulations are strictly controlled by the city and powerful citizens groups have kept the area from turning into fast-food and big box carnival.  Architecture is mandated to blend into the desert and houses must be painted one of the city-approved beige hues.

Profiles excerpted from Where to live in Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun, published by NEXZUS Publishing Group, LLC