At just 10 years old, Brent Kendle knew he was meant to become an architect. While most kids were out riding bikes or flipping through comic books, Kendle was thumbing through a Frank Lloyd Wright magazine his mother had tucked away from her college days. By the sixth page, he was sold. That was it—architecture was his calling.
Raised in the creative crosscurrents of a mother with a passion for interior design and a professional engineer for a father, Kendle was steeped in design and structure from the beginning. His upbringing in the architectural mecca of Chicago and visits to Frank Lloyd Wright homes throughout Oak Park and Taliesin left a mark that shaped his life’s work.
Today, as the visionary behind Kendle Design Collaborative in Scottsdale, Ariz., he is known for merging nature with architecture in ways that feel effortless and deliberate. His latest home in Paradise Valley is no exception. Built for a pair of physicians who love hosting parties and appreciate detail, this hillside retreat captures the essence of Kendle’s “pragmatic poetry,” where every structure serves a purpose, and every purpose is wrapped in elegance.
Where Modesty Meets Monument
From the street, the residence is modest in scale but monumental in impression. With its single-level form set strategically into a sloped site, the 4,000-square-foot house achieves a dramatic welcome without shouting for attention. It’s a masterclass in material contrast: Ribbed basalt walls stand like sculptural sentinels, while concrete blocks and smooth stucco create a clean backdrop.
This home is more than just a pretty face to Kendle and his team. Every material, every design, every product must serve a purpose. “We try to pick materials that are timeless in appearance but also low maintenance,” Kendle says. “Most of our clients have active lifestyles and don’t want to be slaves to their homes.”
Even the basalt-clad entry walls are doing more than anchoring the aesthetic. They create a visual veil, framing the experience and guiding visitors toward the curved overhang and glowing oculus. In a sense, it makes a modern-day sundial that moves shadows across the surface throughout the day.
“It engages the home with nature,” Kendle says. “It becomes kinetic art using one of the most abundant resources we have here—the sun.”
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Modernism, Not Style
Kendle is a listener. Modernism—a philosophy lived by his team—isn’t about style, it’s about starting with the solutions and transforming them into a work of art. “We identify the problem, determine the solution, and then figure out how to make it into poetry,” he explains.
And in this home, the client’s wish list was anything but ordinary. The homeowners had specific dreams: room for dancing (indoors and outdoors), views that didn’t just include the mountains but celebrated them, and privacy that didn’t sacrifice light. Plus, the client adores the color green.
With a nod to that vibrant preference, Kendle designed a custom front door with a striking green glass insert—a jewel-like moment in an otherwise neutral exterior. The curved forms throughout the home were another client must-have, even though curves are notoriously difficult and costly to construct.
“It’s all about choreographing the experience that one has,” Kendle notes. “It’s about creating what I like to call an ‘Oh God’ moment.”
A Panoramic Painting—Every Hour, Every Day
Inside the home, Kendle’s keen vision of natural light takes center stage. A floating roof hovers above the main living space, allowing clerestory windows to pull light from every direction. This technique, used in many of his past designs, eliminates glare and creates a balanced, almost ethereal glow throughout the day.
“Light bounces off the roof and balances the daylight inside. It’s magical,” Kendle remarks. “In the evening, the sun illuminates the mountains while the sky darkens behind them. It looks like a painting.”
This view, framed carefully through the great room’s expansive glass and clean lines, was no accident. Kendle’s team modeled the site in 3D before the design even began, overlaying panoramic photography to determine where each room should be placed for maximum visual impact.
“It’s about putting blinders on what you don’t want to see and spotlighting what you do,” he adds.
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A Layout That Breathes
The layout leans into open-plan living, but it doesn’t skimp on privacy. Through clever use of layered ceiling heights and partial walls, the space feels expansive without being exposed.
“We design for what I call borrowed space,” Brent explains. “You may be in a 200-square-foot living area, but because of how your sightlines borrow volume from adjacent spaces, it feels like 800 square feet.”
The main great room flows seamlessly into an outdoor terrace through fully retractable glass doors. It’s here that the dancing begins—both literally, as the owners glide across the tile floors inside and out, and metaphorically, as architecture and nature engage in a rhythm all their own.
Every Detail, Purposefully Placed
One of Kendle’s most compelling philosophies is that every element must do at least three things: solve a problem, look beautiful, and bring joy to the owners in some way.
Take the deep overhangs, for example. “I don’t want to do anything that’s just ‘hey, this looks cool,’” he says. “If I place a deep overhang, it’s there because it’s shading an outdoor area and interior glass to reduce energy consumption and increase the comfort level of the people living there.”
This trifecta of function, beauty and joy runs throughout the design. Even the choice to keep exposed wood off the exterior wasn’t just aesthetic, it was a nod to maintenance practicality. “We don’t want to create homes that demand constant upkeep,” Kendle says. “We want them to give back.”
So, what defines a Brent Kendle home? Is it the light, the layout, the signature floating ceilings or the textural interplay? All of it…and none of it.
“We’re modernists, and modernism is not a style; it’s a process. We just have to listen and find the right solution that solves things in a unique way, and to me, that’s what makes timeless architecture,” Kendle says.
This Paradise Valley masterpiece fully displays that philosophy: fluid, function and always poetic.
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