Park Place homes can be placed just about anywhere, says Calvis Wyant of Calvis Wyant Luxury Homes.
The Scottsdale-based custom home builder recently completed four of the one- and-two-story homes at Silverleaf, the 2,000-acre gated home community in north Scottsdale. Because of their success — all four are sold and nearing completion — the company is offering them in other premium neighborhoods.
The Park Place homes range from 3,500 to 5,200 square feet, in a variety of architectural styles and with exterior finishes including brick, stucco and stone.
Calvis Wyant expects new-builds to sell in the $1.5 million range to buyers who have already purchased land. “These homes, with their focus on taking full advantage of the indoor-outdoor lifestyle of Arizona, will work on lots from as little as 12,000 square feet up to a half acre or more,” says Scott Edwards, the company’s vice president. “We’d love to build more at Silverleaf, too; I wish I had 20 more lots.”
“We think that Park Place homes will work in many fine communities in the Phoenix area — neighborhoods like Arcadia, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, in particular,” adds Tony Calvis, who handles marketing and sales for the 27-year-old design-build firm. His business partner, Gary Wyant, AIA, designed the Park Place homes as well as many of the company’s other projects.
“Empty-nesters, retirees, second- and vacation-home owners will find these homes uniquely attractive, with their spaciousness, flexibility in design and lifestyle amenities,” explains Calvis, whose experience in home-building began more than 30 years ago as a carpenter.
“Gary has an innate ability to design a space with volume, scale and proportion that invites light and maximizes views — all with a flow that suits a particular family’s lifestyle,” he adds.
Unique designs
Wyant notes: “One of the assets of these courtyard-style homes is that we customize them to our clients’ needs. While we offer a variety of floorplans, these can be changed. For example, a second office for her, an extra bedroom, a casita or any other room can be added where needed.
“We can also add a wall, a window, a set of French doors. We can even add a second floor, with an extra bedroom or two and game and media rooms. Or a wine room or barbecue patio. These are true custom homes, just more intimately sized.”
Calvis Wyant has built single homes at Silverleaf since owner DMB Associates opened the luxury golf community almost 12 years ago in 8,300-acre DC Ranch. Designed for 736 homes at high-desert elevations of 1,700 to 3,000 feet, Silverleaf is noted not only for its scenic setting against the McDowell Mountains but also for the community’s Tom-Weiskopf-designed 18-hole golf course and its 50,000-square-foot luxurious clubhouse, including a spa, restaurant, golf shop and other features.
The Park Place homes perfectly fit the Silverleaf niche and market needs. As the community was closing out the majority of its lot sales about two years ago, during the Valley’s four-year Great Recession, Calvis Wyant acquired DMB Associates’ Mediterranean-style sales office and transformed it into a high-end residence, eventually selling it to the current owners.
Across from the office was a large parking lot, which for a decade had accommodated potential buyers, brokers and Silverleaf staff. Here, Calvis and Wyant saw the opportunity to place four homes on spacious lots — homes that reiterated company standards for excellence and personal service as well as aligned with the luxury neighborhood style and active-lifestyle spirit that residents, and potential homebuyers, identify with Silverleaf.
Capitalizing on market
“Calvis Wyant’s Park Place models here at Silverleaf came out at just the right time when a down market needed a new and different product,” says Debbie Beardsley, associate broker for The Silverleaf Group, a division of the DMB Realty Network. “These were up-to-date homes with bright quality finishes and generous single-story square-footage. All the stars were aligned for these homes, and they have made a wonderful addition to the outstanding Silverleaf community.”
David O’Donoghue, senior vice president of Club and Resort Operations at DMB and the general manager at Silverleaf, adds: “The Calvis Wyant Park Place homes brought the Silverleaf community spacious living spaces, such as light-filled kitchens and bathrooms. These homes, in particular, fit the unique high-end lifestyle niche that Silverleaf represents.
“We’re not a second-home, vacation-home community like some of the areas farther north in Scottsdale,” he explains. “In the 11 years since Silverleaf opened, we have found that our owners are engaged in every facet of life.”
“They enjoy the neighborhood spirit our homes offer, the parks that surround them, the welcoming streetscape. You’ll see them hiking early in the morning, taking children to our Copper Ridge School, biking, golfing, enjoying our magnificent clubhouse. These are active families with a great deal of social connectivity. They like to open up their homes, entertain friends and family.
“Silverleaf is not your ‘typical’ exclusive gated community, and companies like Calvis Wyant not only build great houses here but great spaces where people want to live robustly,” O’Donoghue adds. “With these homes, Tony Calvis and Gary Wyant really took a visionary leap when they built them in the spirit of our very connected neighborhoods.”
Suited to lifestyle
Curt and Cathy Stoelting moved into one of the Park Place Silverleaf homes in March. This is a second home for the couple, who live outside Chicago in Aurora, Ill.
He’s a golfer, she’s a get-up-and-go morning person; both are bikers and hikers. “We would visit the Phoenix/Scottsdale area but got tired of staying in hotels but adore the weather and friendly people,” she says. So, they began searching for a second home in the Valley, a place to live seasonally and visit when the desert called.
“After four or five days looking at everything in the area, I walked in the model home next door and said, ‘I’m done.’ This was the perfect thing — clean lines, amazing quality and lots of indoor and outdoor space.”
One daughter is attending the Arizona Culinary Institute — inspired by Cathy, a chef with a culinary degree. She does restaurant consulting, developing menus and blogging on food.
“That was one of the reasons we chose this home,” she says. “We immediately loved the combination kitchen and great room. Curt and I love to cook, and cook with friends. The kitchen and the outdoor living space are going to be great for entertaining.”
The Stoeltings were assisted by the Calvis Wyant team throughout the process. “Designing and building custom homes is very personal,” Calvis says. “It’s a people business, a service business.”
A vision realized
Cathy and Calvis Wyant also coordinated with Mesa-based interior designer, Caroline Decesare, who provided a light and bright interior: “We have heavy Mediterranean in Chicago, and we wanted something very different here,” she says.
Their home, as with the three others, offers features such as mountain views, eight-foot paneled doors, a swimming pool, a light-filled great room with ceiling beams and large clerestory windows and a home-control system featuring Lutron and Savant systems.
At the same time, they added glass to the front door for more light and, also for additional welcome, a water feature at the entry courtyard. “Our guests love to keep the guest bedroom windows open to listen to the water falling,” she says.
Inside, they added a sliding barn door from the great room to the study, and Calvis Wyant customized the cabinets to accommodate their washer and dryer. Cathy asked that the doors be deleted; in place are stylish baskets to hold sundries.
Says Cathy: “I had a vision of what I wanted the house to look like, and Calvis Wyant was amazing in making that happen.”
The pitch and the product appealed to the Stoeltings’ new wall neighbor as well. In April, Calvis and his family moved into the home just east of theirs. “We really enjoy the Silverleaf lifestyle — and we already knew how great the neighbors on all three sides would be,” he says, with a big smile.
