Design

The Coronado historic district is only historic in it's home type. In everything else it is a contemporary neighborhood occupied by creative and professional people, many of whom have make this little home rather beautiful and bountiful. It take a lot of talent to make a small home work, to nurture and bloom these homes and for the most part, people are succeeding. 

Beige is the color most difficut to find in Coronado: beige takes back stage role in favor of color and personality: beige is the for the suburbs of neo tuscan, modified ranch, and newer HOA restricted homes. 

[ Photo: Artur Ciesielski ]

Each house is different and unlike the beige dipped homes of the suburb, these historic houses tend to have many colors with green, blue,…

Phoenix is a car dependent city, but there is no reason to place the garage in the forefront, especially when selling a homes never mind designing the things. 

All these are the first photos buyers see of homes online. Do you want a potential buyer to see a home or a garage?

The solution can be making the entry attractive and taking the photo of it, or getting a different angle to get the entire home, but with an emphasis on the entry or a more attractive side. Or, simply avoid the front for the first photos, do the interior or the back yard.

APS wants you to know about its Shade Tree Program 

Where:

Rio Salado Audubon Center 3131 S. Central Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85040

When:

July 23, 2011 - 8:30 A.M. or 10:00 A.M.

This is a great opportunity for historic home owners to get and add shade to their homes.

Shade trees conserve energy without altering windows or other historic features of homes, they add a natural beauty to the surroundings and increase property values.

What You Get:

APS will give qualified Maricopa County residents up to three free five-gallon shade trees after attending the free one-hour Shade Tree workshop, either at 8:30 A.M. or 10:00 A.M.

You can receive up to two Palo Verde, Mesquite, Desert Willow or Chaste (Vitex) trees for homes built 1980 or…

Excluding any preferences based on culture and beliefs, the best position is north/south for houses.

The heat is really something here: in the summer it's hot, really hot: painfully hot, but due to the dry air, it's fairly bearable. 

It's the bare sun that's truly painful. A direct hit from the sun's rays can even be deadly with enough exposure and houses bare the brunt of that exposure. 

I walk into my closet in the mornings facing east and I can feel that it's warmer than the rest of the house. 

Of course, it also depends on how the home is built. In the winter I showed a contemporary home in Central Sunnyslope that had a huge wall of glass facing south. That home in the early afternoon was an oven inside and this was January. In the…

Do you want to know what type of architecture styles are prevalent in Central Phoenix?

Then we've got the guide for you. This architectural guide presents many of the prominent styles common in the historic districts of Phoenix as well as Phoenix in general. 

We go into a history of a particular style, it's roots and sources with references in many cases.

In each description you'll be able explore further the neighborhoods where each style can be found.

We have many photos coming and are expanding the list as more articles are completed.

18 styles are now available: anything from Cape Cod Revival, to the Normal Revival Style, Tudor, Transitional Ranch and coming soon we'll expand the modern and contemporary sections as well as attempt…

The light rail station at Indian School and Central Avenue is one where you can easily miss the next trail. It is filled with photographs of the areas history with photos from the early to mid century, often with a history from businesses and people who make this area what it is.  

It is a stop next to the Indian School Park on the East side and on the West an empty lot which only a year ago or so had a strip mall on it.  Now it's another vacant eye sore like so many that litter the area along the light rail: a lot awaiting better economic times.  Which means don't hold your breath.  

In fact, some of the art is very symbolic.  A mosaic in the sidewalk has been so worn one can barely discern it from the rest of the path and the light rail has…

This is an attractive station located on Apache Boulevard in Tempe.  Apache is a wide road and the surrounding architecture is mostly single story so the area feels very open and spacious.  The station itself is filled with colorful public are: it's dotted with sculptures, tile sculptures, inlaid tile, metal coins with messages. 

One could spend an hour or two just reading and enjoying the bursts of colors. The art here is a collaboration of four different artists.  The most imposing element are the hands reaching into the sky, but don't skip the details, like the pavers in the middle which relate stories and anecdotes collected from the Apache neighborhood.

photos: Artur Ciesielski ©

Metro Public Art

"Artwork at the four stations…

The 7th Ave. & Camelback area is somewhat a victim or a slowing economy and low quality of housing toward the West and somewhat a lack of caring or funds from the owners. 

The area is dirty, run down and simply puts Phoenix in a bad light. The store fronts are empty, trash is all over. 

It need not be like this, especially on such a busy street.

"The profile of the light rail stations, progresses from the very tall 19th/Montebello station to a very low lying 7th/Camelback station. The artist, Phoenix resident, Nubia Owens, was tasked with creating artwork that fit this more neighborly scale. Owens responded by creating a carpet of over 200 terrazzo pavers that curve and wind around the platform in
a bizarre and continuously unfolding…

The Metro Light Rail stations are more then simple platforms for getting on and off, they also feature prominent art.

Public art plays an important role in any city if it's done well and the collaboration of architects, engineers, artist worked out well to integrate works into the light rail system providing both visual pleasure and also history, photos and meaning, putting it all in perspective and allowing travelers to get a glimpse into what Phoenix was and is.

The Roosevelt / Central Ave. station is one of the larger stations.  It provides access to the residents of the surrounding area including the Roosevelt Historic District and Portland Place amongst others.  It is also a drop of point for those seeking the downtown urban vibe of First…

Phoenix real estate, as exciting as it is can sometimes be quite boring.  Just flip through a homes magazine and all you get is dozens of pages of the same, over and over and most of those homes are not even the listings of the advertising agent - but that's another topic for discussion.

Well, we try to put lots of stuff to work for our clients - like videos for our listings which helped save, according the the buyer's agent, a recent transaction which involved some precarious negotiations - we'll cover this as well in the near future.  

There is really only so much that can be done that's creative - what ever that means, but it's worth a try. 

The ad above is an attempt to have something different out there, something more catchy and easy…