mugsy1703 Very cool reno. Curious about his comment of removing anything that "would blow off in a hurricane" ... in Phoenix? Sorry to see the Saguaro cacti go though.

steinertbarbara The house is gorgeous. I just wonder about the choice of black for the exterior color, in one of the hottest cities in the country!

Greg the PAINT-IT! guy The black color is so progressive! It's completely awesome! It "cleans it up" and creates a solid, formidable existance within it's environment, yet at the same time "blends". It's a strange combination of the sneses, but it works beautifully! Gives you that feel of "me". I'm here. I definitely belong! Incredible.

Casart Coverings Wonderful that they were able to keep all materials and products USA-made.

midmodfan I love the black exterior but also wondered. We had a very dark green/ almost black house (in much colder Bavaria) and the dark walls often became so hot that the wood and paint cracked.

But the remodel is very nice. It's a good example that you don't have to turn the upside down to achieve a good result. The sculpture in the backyard is cool.

Lucianna Samu - Color and Design The bathroom palette is great and I absolutely love the frosted glass partition wall. Cool idea.

joeygirljoey I love Saguaros as well and thought there was an ordinance to protect them?? This one was funny...I cannot imagine being greeted by such a big specimen of the "New York State Bird" every day! I would have probably made the same decision...

houzyadoin Enjoy the before and afters of this house. Can you tell me about the stone wall/fire place in the living. It is a frequent challenge for many homes of the period and you have blended it well with the airy contrast. As well as the rusted steel panels in the backyard. Are they strictly for aesthetics or serve another purpose. (just realized its covering of the transformer.) The lighting is very important to the outside of the house. Can you tell me about the pendant in the dining over the table? Thank you for showing! - Kendra

flopsycat1 I'm sure the saguaros were relocated as it is illegal to destroy them. I would have gladly "rehomed" them on my property, a few miles away.

Sage Design Studios, Inc. Great transformation, but would love to see how much the cooling bill rises in the summer due to the dark color change.

sandy47 Very nicely done; good design execution

Greg the PAINT-IT! guy It never ceases to amaze me how many "experts" there are when it comes to our South West climate. One question: Does everyone in Alaska avoid driving white cars? They're so much colder than the dark ones, aren't they? Dark pigmented colors incorporate different materials and actually do hold up under our heat conditions.

oldred Love it! The USA made element is great.

R. Martin Choate There isn't a thing about this home that I don't like...when do I get to move in? FABULOUS renovation!

Stone & Land, LLC I like the outdoor transformation, pool area and the metal street number sign. I don't know why but I really like that simple frosted glass panel in the bathroom. Also would've been cool to keep one of those big cactus in there, but very nice project.

HS Petterson LOVE this house. I wish Spry Architecture would come to North Carolina and design a house for me!

Freespirit Tanner Beautiful transformation! I would have also loved to see the bedrooms. 8)

tsudhonimh Oh wow! From fake pueblo to unapologetic modern. I like it!

@mugsy ... we do have intense winds - short lived, but nasty thunderstorms. And the saguaros probably went to another landscape. They transplant easily if you have the equipment to handle them, and these were in an easy to access spot.

@everyone ... it's amazing what insulation under the black stucco can do.

Spry Architecture Thank you all for your comments.

The color / climate question is one we receive quite a bit. Material is more of an issue that the material color. In other words, in the hottest part of the desert summer, black stucco is not much hotter (if at all) than white stucco. More importantly, the black stucco won't reflect the sunlight (which can be brutal) the way white stucco can. If you live in the north, imagine a sunny day after a snow fall...that's what a white surface is like in the desert. (Too often sidewalks are poured white in the desert.)

Also, in regards to materials / heat...the metal gates and the metal sculpture are a far bigger issue (if I'm being honest) in the summer time. They will at times be too hot to touch. But, in truth, when the temperature is 110 degrees, everything outside will be too hot to touch.

Eric

ritaroanne Noticed on your website a large orange wall. Is it stucco? or metal? If succo, what product did you use for the wash? Thank you

Spry Architecture Ritaroanne - is this the image that you saw? That's rusty metal which turns orange quickly then over some time begins to turn a beautiful bronze-red.
I used a salt-water solution on the metal which caused it to rust slowly and consistently.
On the metal sculpture (picture above) I used a muriatic acid-water solution which caused the metal to rust more inconsistently with varied color hues (purples and blues), which is what we wanted.

Darzy Beautiful home! Thank you for sharing.

Spry Architecture Thank you Darzy!

braindoc50 All in all, a very nice renovation. Two aesthetic choices are troublesome to me.....first, the very tired mounted trophy-esque animal head; how is this in any way interesting or innovative, even if it is all white? Done and overdone in my humble opinion.

Second, the materials and proportions of the fireplace wall seem contextually inappropriate for the overall mid-century minimalist styling of this abode. Of course it is a matter of personal preference, but were this MY home, I'd have gone with materials far less busy......acid-treated iron/metal of some sort, echoing the black exterior, vs the hyper-busy stone that to me repeats the 70s-ish mistakes found in so many Arizona homes. But then taste is very individual, yes?

Greg the PAINT-IT! guy Braindoc50: Tastes are indeed individual and I trend to agree with your views and reviews, but then were it MY house... That's kind of like saying "I'd have turned the animal print rug in the other direction..." But then I don't particularly care for animal print rugs anymore than I do animal heads on walls. They're too "trophiesque" (??) IMHO.

No matter. I absolutely would have done the FP wall differently and I would also have eliminated the animal head as it seems very out of place IMO. The interior is devoid of anything that makes this house a home anyway, and appears to be merely "staged" for the photo op, so that could explain a lot. I think the crux of the spread shows a glorious (and much needed) Desert reno that makes a significant statement as to what can be done when we try for positive change in a sea of desert bland beige. Kudo's to thinking outside the box on the exterior! Outstanding.

Spry Architecture Too often an architect inflicts his vision upon a client as opposed to understanding the clients vision, then infusing imagination into that vision. A piece of architecture can look great in a magazine but if it does not solve the clients program in a beautiful and functional way, the architecture has failed. The architects job is to design a celebration of the clients life while solving all the necessary program requirements.
If I were a musician and Braindoc50 hired me to write a piece of music that was a celebration of his life, that piece of music would be significantly different than a piece of music written to celebrate thepaintitguy's life. That is how it should be and architecture is frozen music (FLLW).
If this were braindoc50's home perhaps the fireplace would be wrapped in steel or if the home belonged to Colonel Sanders the fireplace could be wrapped in chicken feathers. That's the beauty of architecture, individualization. A detail that provokes a personal thought or feeling for the homeowner.
Architecture is not about perfect universal solutions (those don't exist) it's about appropriate solutions; solutions appropriate to the context of the project. The context is the client's program, site conditions, climate, budget etc.
That said, I love the giraffe head because it adds whimsy to the space, it's amusing and modern architecture takes itself far too seriously.
I love the stone fireplace because the stone is personal to the homeowner, a piece of her past, and the workmanship is extraordinary.
The stone makes this HER home. That is architecture.

xowen I love the metal sculpture/screens! Where can I find that kind of metal and what kind of frame is it on?

Spry Architecture I'm glad you like it!
The metal sculpture / screen is custom designed and fabricated.
We used 1/8" thick plate and perforated metal set in a 1x2 tube steel frame.

ritaroanne perfect answer to braindoc50 and the paintitguy. I have a landscaping business and can make a very amazing space by design but if it doesn't reflect the client's wishes, I have failed. good for you for guiding the client but including them so they feel part of the end result.

gknee Beautifully done, would like to see more rooms.

gwen47 Love the metal screens in the backyard and especially the one with the street number. Also love the neutral, natural palette---no accent walls or the mandatory "pops of color" designers always demand.

One question--- in the first photo the side wall to the house seems to be missing, making the front look like a facade only. I must be missing something.

Spry Architecture Gwen47-Funny observation, you're right, it looks like a movie facade...must be the angle of the camera because the side of the house most definitely exists.

karmakshanti I have some reservations about the interior. It could be from an upscale house anywhere in the Western world. One of the charms of living in a place of climate and cultural extremes is the unique blend of them you can make inside your own home. Why is there a need to drag the Barcelona Pavillion and the Bauhaus into the Low Desert, where elements of an indigenous and stylish simplicity of interiors are already available?

newmouse Those garage doors are beautiful. And is the driveway in front of the garage blue? I would love to see a picture of that part of the exterior - it is intriguing. The home is beautiful, inside and out.

headsmasher I have been looking for a material like the one used for the house number and pool. What is this material? Is it affordable? How do I find it and how was the lighting achieved around the pool panels?

Spry Architecture Headsmasher (may I call you Headsmasher?), the material is 1/4" rusty steel. We custom fabricated the steel, installed then rusted by spraying with a saltwater solution. I used a $10 garden sprayer from Ace Hardware.
The address numbers were water cut. The steel fabricator for the address marker was Arlon Lewis. If you live in the Phoenix area, I recommend using him.
The lighting around the pool is just well placed landscape up lights, low voltage.

Spry Architecture Newmouse-thank you. The garage doors are from Lodi garage doors, here in Phoenix. The driveway is dyed dark grey, though it does have a bit of a blueish tint.

Solena Landscape Amazing transformation...I love it! Great use of the mid century arch look to update it.

Jg Austin first of all I like the USA material concept., the house looks clean, simple, and grass roots. I like minimal decoritive, uncluttered life. It looks like a tract home turned into a custom one- off design. The idea of being different than the norm adds to the whole residential complex.

headsmasher Thank you for responding to my steel panel question. I live in Missouri so will have to go it alone! Do you think the panel look could be achieved using corrugated steel for lighter weight? My builder is concerned about securing it against wind, also. Do you have an idea how we would accomplish that? It is impossible to get any equipment down there now. Thanks again. Love the house.

hoovermcteagle What happened to the Saguaros out front?

Spry Architecture Headsmasher, you could certainly use any thickness of metal that is appropriate to the design. Keep in mind thinner metal would need more rigid support.
We used 1 X 2 tube steel for the frame (with the 1/8" metal panel set in the frame) and ran the tube steels long at the bottom. We tapered the ends and drove them into the ground with a sledge hammer...sounds unscientific but it worked. The ground out here is pretty hard. Not sure about Missouri, you could use a pole digger, dig a hole, fill it with a concrete slurry mix then set the steel in it. If the panels are set in concrete, I can't imagine them blowing around too much.
Hoovermcteagle, the house was stripped clean by the previous residents, a foreclosure I believe, not sure. They sold everything of value in the house and outside. The house was in poor condition when my client purchased it, the Saguaros gone when I started. I don't know what happened to them.

evaf Brilliant renovation, the interventions were not drastic but very effective and give the house the integrity that it did not have earlier. great work.

jwindsoh What are the patio roofs made of? Looking for something translucent and modern for our Tucson backyard. I love this house

Spry Architecture @jwindsoh, the patio roofs are a material used typically for greenhouses, made by Gallina. You can Google them.

Robin Spry architecture, I've seen res and black elastomeric paint fade pretty quickly over stucco in Santa Fe. Are there any additives/products you could recommend that reduce/prevent pigment fade? Love your work!

Robin Eric Spry, I meant red and black elastomeric paint.