New West

Just 12 miles north of Scottsdale, nestled among a serene nature refuge, is the Boulders Resort and Golden Door Spa in Carefree where guests enjoy the pristine 1,300-acre property. Those who come for an extended stay have accommodation options other than a suite at the resort to make them feel right at home. There are 700 home villas on-site, many of which are owned by individuals who license the Boulders to rent out the space, including Villa 660.

Owner Max Haechler of Switzerland bought the 20-year-old villa in January 2007 and hired Jeanie Lusk of Interior Difference to remodel it.

Lusk was given free rein to design with one caveat — she had to create a soft contemporary space that incorporates Arizona’s Western architecture without the old fashioned cowboy accents.

“It’s all kind of a play on textures,” Lusk says, comparing the decor to that of Elements, a restaurant at Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort and Spa. “When you look around, you see all different elements of the Earth together, and that’s kind of what we tried to do ... is bring all the different elements and see them in a new light but not change the actual bones of the architecture.”

Those bones include a signature feature of the homes at the Boulders — vigas and latillas. Vigas are large beams that contain latillas, or small branches, across them. These building materials native to Arizona are featured on the villa’s living room ceiling and on the back patio.

Immediately upon entering the villa is a spacious living room. Furniture is positioned to maximize the view beyond a sliding glass door, which was a small window and door leading out to the patio before the remodel.

“The issue of removing the smaller window was to make this room much more grandiose and have this as your visual,” Lusk says. “You want to kick in all of your focal points.”

The flooring throughout the villa, which Lusk says provided her inspiration for the design, is a honed green slate. The slate appears textured but is actually smooth.

“I loved the idea that the slate had the cold and the warm going on,” Lusk says. “I felt like the warm tone that comes out in this floor really helps with the continuity of the original vigas and latillas. I chose this floor because of the contemporary feeling.”

The honed slate continues onto the patio, where Lusk installed a built-in barbecue. New outdoor furniture invites guests to sit back, relax and enjoy the peaceful setting.

Back inside, Lusk gutted the kitchen. Worn cabinetry was replaced with a custom version made with melamine and a seven-layer coat of lacquer. The glossy coating creates an illusion of metal cabinets. The countertop was replaced with blue-pearl granite, which Lusk says offsets the design. New GE appliances and a cast-iron sink were also installed.

Rather than layering the windows with drapery, Lusk hangs a cornice at the top of each window with retractable shades.

“I believe that windows should become part of your backdrop,” Lusk says. “(They are) your canvas of the whole home, so I blended those with the wall, and the accent pulls in the rest.”

Red accents pop throughout the home, providing a stark contrast to the otherwise neutral tones: glossy bar stools in the kitchen, couch pillows, a bar cart and its accessories and splashes of red pop in each room. Lusk says it’s important to use bold colors in small doses.

“If you had a red sofa, you might get tired of it,” she says. “That’s why you want to use the loudest color in the smallest amounts.”

Among the red accents is an abstract chair in the living room that Lusk says prompts many comments from visitors. Made of seat belts twisted tightly around the frame, the chair is surprisingly quite comfortable.

The honed slate flooring extends to the bathrooms and is used in the showers up to the ceiling for a dramatic look. The bathrooms both feature Bellazura cabinetry and vessels and custom-beveled mirrors made by Pace Art of Scottsdale.

“I wanted this to be a work of art,” Lusk says about the bathroom decor. “I feel like the vessel is simply a feast for the eyes versus just a cabinet and door.”
Niches throughout the home provide prominent space for plants and artwork selected by Lusk at various markets. She explains that the varying warm and cold decor provides a balance for the contemporary theme.

“Just walking in, visually, it’s like every corner you go to and look at ... there is always something interesting so that you don’t get bored,” she says. “It’s very atypical.”

Once Lusk began the renovation, Haechler did not see the villa again until it was complete due to travels for his job as consul emeritus of Switzerland for Arizona.
“I had a hard time (holding) back a happy tear,” Haechler recalls upon seeing the villa. “The small windows and dark wooden shutters are gone, replaced by a large sliding door window, bringing into the room the beautiful outdoor desert landscape.”

Haechler rents out the villa and allows friends to use it, but says it will be an option for he and his wife to one day retire and “enjoy the well-kept serene and powerful environment.”

“I wanted this to be just knock-your-socks-off contemporary,” Lusk says.
And it would appear she got it just right. The contemporary decor mixing adobe architecture and contemporary design preserves the villa’s indigenous environment while allowing modern touches to shine through. H&D

www.interiordifference.com
www.theboulders.com