The Great Escape
By Anne O’Brien
Photography by: Charles Man
Phoenix Home & Garden: The Magazine of Southwest Living
July 2006
Pp. 132-135
An East-Coast couple finds respite from life in the city among rocks and water.
FLOYD CLARKE AND CAROL ANN PETREN knew their two-year search for an Arizona home site had ended when they clambered up boulders at the base of Apache Peak in north Scottsdale. The dramatic mountainside setting, with its panoramic views and cool breezes, felt like the perfect place to escape the pressures of their busy Washington, D.C., lives.
Unfortunately, they weren’t the only buyers to appreciate the locale. Twice, others prevailed in lotteries to determine who would get prime lots in this desert community. The third time was a charm, however, and the couple “won” a lot situated on a steep, sloping site dominated by a bouldered outcropping.
Before building began, Carol Ann and Floyd would climb these giant rocks, imagining one as the location for their kitchen, another as the balcony of a guest room. “We’d have to hike because there were no real roads yet, just paths through the sagebrush,” Floyd recalls. As a Phoenix native, he was familiar with dry washes near mountains. Carol Ann’s mountain adventures took place in New Hampshire, where there are lakes, and she envisioned the addition of water to their desertscape.
Now, three years after completion of the home and garden, water is the element that has gently taken over.
“Water in the desert changes everything,” asserts landscape architect Donna Winters of Enchanted Garden Landscape Inc., who managed the planning of the grounds. This Phoenix Home & Garden Master of the Southwest worked closely with pool builder Steve Oliver of Creative Water Concepts, whom she describes as “an artist.” Architect James Hann and builder Dan Couturier completed the construction team. Tony Sutton, of the interior design firm Est Est, joined in the decision-making as well, selecting colors for the home’s exterior and designing custom-made lighting fixtures to coordinate with copper roof detailing.
“They were all good listeners,” Carol Ann says of the group. “We talked to them about concept and then let them make use of their own experience, since too much instruction dampens creativity and spirit. They delivered the feel we wanted.”
The team implemented the homeowners’ desire to enjoy the sight and sound of water in myriad ways. Framed by a seamless window, the smooth surface of the pool catches the eye as one enters the front door. Water flows from the main pool into a small reflecting pond at a lower level, beside one of six patios. Water also trickles down boulders, appearing from unseen sources; its path is marked by greenery growing in nooks and crannies like a giant rock garden.
Nestled among boulders towering over the yard are majestic saguaros, which represent native plant life. Sprays of cherry-red salvia and spiky grasses are planted more densely below, close to the pool. “We wanted to authenticate the experience of water in the desert with plantings,” explains Winters.
A tropical garden that includes Carol Ann’s favorite plant, bird-of-paradise, enlivens a shady alcove next to the master bedroom. Water flows from a waterfall nearby. “I love to wake up to the sound of water,” she admits.
Floyd and Carol Ann say they plan on retiring to their Arizona retreat someday. But for now, far away from the demands of their professional lives, their most pressing decisions involve selecting which patio best suits the mood of the moment: Will it be sunrise or sunset, mountains, stars or city lights?
“It's our Camelot,” says Carol Ann. 81