Scottsdale House Inspired by Desert Prairie

We are sitting in a cozy conference room appointed with books and images of Scottsdale architect Brent Kendle’s most important work. We’re not in a sophisticated high-rise or ultra-modern loft, but rather an earthy structure almost buried in the Ironwoods with a mother quail and her chicks darting around in the brush. The organic nature of the office reflects the architect’s vision to create environments that bring the outdoors in. Homes that are modern, striking yet comfortable, and reflect the firm’s philosophy of creating “living architecture”.

That’s exactly what he’s done with the Ironwood Modern property, a 12,000-square-foot Paradise Valley home, which underwent a complete interior and exterior renovation including a full-gut, luxury architecture enhancements, landscape, and hardscape redesign.

While the home itself had good bones, it was a compound of smaller rooms, hallways, and spaces. “Our goal was to open it all up, create spaces that co-mingle with each other, and still maintain the intimacy that a couple would want to enjoy when home alone and not entertaining 200 people,” says Kendle.

The overall vision for the property included integrating a modern minimalist aesthetic with the home’s existing Desert Prairie exterior, a challenge in itself. That vision was brought to life by creating an open floorplan and using rich materials like East Indian Rosewood, anigre, stainless steel accents, and Empress Limestone. Some of the home’s features include an acrylic wine room display and a theater room that features refined anigre wood millwork melded with steel, stone, glass, and quartz.

“The millwork brought natural materials into this modern home to create a softness and a dimension that no other material could create,” says Kendle. They traveled to Niagara Falls to specify the flints of wood that would grace this home with regard to book matching and creating a true luxury millwork experience.

The lush backyard was also completely transformed with a design collaborative and a million-dollar renovation that included removing the old pool, putting green, and other features.

“We salvaged the native trees, but redid the entire backyard down to the dirt, which was re-graded for a new pool, spa, waterfall, terraces, and tennis court,” says Kendle. Views of the outdoor space now serve as artwork to the indoor space, accomplishing Kendle and the homeowner’s shared vision for a home that embraced modern simplicity and blurred the lines between indoor and outdoor living.

“When the sun is part of the architecture, the space will be different every hour of the day; you’ll never be bored. We seek to design a house where the sun creates a pattern—a house that tells time, that represents luxury architecture that celebrates the joys of living.”