Architectural Artistry: The Symingtons’ Trailhead

Western Art & Architecture, June/July 2017

The Symington family of Paradise Valley envisioned their home as a celebration of their passions, heirlooms and artworks and a life shared with family and friends: It is their “Trailhead.” Designed by Arizona’s Gerry Jones, a master of residential desert architecture, the 10,380-square-foot-liveable home was completed in June 2014 by Scottsdale’s La Casa Builders. The five-bedroom, eight-bathroom three-level comprises four main-floor ensuite bedrooms; a second-floor master bedroom and its Japanese-inspired bathroom; and a wine cellar in the spirit of Old Portugal. Above the Moroccan-themed pool house is an upper-level view patio with a seating area and a fire pit, offering views of Camelback Mountain, Mummy Mountain, the McDowells and the Superstitions. “This home is a model of elegance and superlative craftsmanship,” says former La Casa partner, Ron Steege. “Its coordination of architectural artistry and art is simply extraordinary.”

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Celebrating Frank Lloyd Wright at 150

Green Living, June 2017

We mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Frank Lloyd Wright this year (1867−1959) for many reasons. He affirmed a truly American architecture, celebrating the unique topographies of our landscape, from the early Prairie Style, exemplified by the Robie House (1907) in Chicago, Illinois, through the later work in the Southwest such as Taliesin West (1937) in Scottsdale. He was innovative, too, such as building Fallingwater (1935) in western Pennsylvania for the Edgar J. Kaufmann family on a waterfall or designing the Guggenheim Museum (1959) in Manhattan as a spiral of galleries rather than in angular array. America’s greatest architect can also be lauded for pioneering ideas that helped promote today’s sustainable thinking, even though he would not have thought himself an environmentalist intent on world-saving. He was rather an architect intent on affirming the relationship between the built and natural environments –– a green thought for sure.

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Marcellino Ristorante

Highline Autos, January 2017

Sima and Marcellino Verzino met at his Roma bar/bistro on New Year’s Eve 1992, and their new lives began. After moving back to the states from his native Italy, the couple and partners opened Amarone in New York City, her birthplace. In Phoenix, they opened their first Valley restaurant on Northern Avenue in 2003. Today, their place in Old Town at Southbridge is thriving, serving favorites such as Porcini Fettuccine, Gnocchi al Pignatelli, Zuppa di Pesce Royale and chef’s handcrafted Tiramisu. “If I had to identify the characteristics that set chef apart,” says Sima, who also sings there every week. “They are respect: for centuries-old recipes, their authenticity; love: never wavering from what he feels in his heart is right; tenacity: his leadership skills in teaching to impart his culinary wisdom; and his steadfast belief in who he is and what he represents.”

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Jeanetta Holder: ‘The Quilt Lady’

Highline Autos, November 2016

Kentucky’s Jeanetta Holder, 84, has been gifting Indy 500 winners hand-made quilts for four decades. Last May’s winner, Alexander Rossi, received one. Mario Andretti of Nazareth, Pennsylvania, the 1969 winner, received his 40 years ago after claiming the 1978 Formula 1 title. The Unsers, Al Sr. and Jr. and Bobby, winners of a fabulous nine Indy’s, have a collection in Albuquerque. Roger Penske, the transportation-industry giant and race promoter, has some, as does Arie Luyendyk, the Phoenix-area resident who won in 1990 and 1997. And four-timer A.J. Foyt has some as does another quadruple winner, Rick Mears. The family of Jim Rathmann, the 1960 winner, received one, as did Parnelli Jones, who took the checkered flag in 1963. “She has always been a close family friend for 50 years, including babysitting my children,” says Bobby Unser, who won three times. “Thanks, Jeanetta, for being part of what makes the Indianapolis 500 and open wheel racing great!”

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The Great Ride of Our Parks

Highline Autos, August 2016

In 2016, our National Park Service celebrated its Centennial, and what rides it has been for the millions of visitors who have enjoyed them: on horse, by stagecoach, car, bus and boat. Included in the system are 412 areas: national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails and the White House. To celebrate the event, we visited a few of the parks in the West to learn about the methods visitors have used to get to them and enjoy their stays during these first 100 years. President Theodore Roosevelt’s words at at the Grand Canyon May 6, 1903, resonate still: “Leave it as it is. Man cannot improve on it; not a bit. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it. What you can do is to keep it for your children and your children’s children and all who come after you.”

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Painting the Parks

Western Art & Architecture, June/July 2016

In 2016, we celebrated the centenary of the National Park Service (NPS), which was established “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” Even before those first parks, national monuments and Native American reservation sites were set in 1916, the arts were connected with these special places and, in fact, helped to make the argument for the NPS. Some of these early artists were Thomas Moran, George Catlin, Thomas Cole, Thomas Hill, Thomas Doughty, Asher B. Durand, Frederick Edwin Church, Albert Bierstadt, Gunnar Widforss and John Fery. And, today, a new generation of artists continues that tradition in an increasing variety of media.

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Larz Anderson Museum: America’s Oldest Car Collection

Highline Autos, January 2016

Soon after they married, Larz and Isabel Anderson purchased an 1899 Winton Phaeton Runabout, a true horseless carriage, and through 1948, the New Englanders acquired at least 32 additional more cars and carriages. As the cars became obsolete, the couple didn’t sell them but retired the vehicles to the Carriage House. By 1927, the couple had opened it for tours of their “ancient” vehicles –– the beginning of today’s “America’s Oldest Car Collection” in the original Anderson Carriage House on the grounds of the Weld Estate, now Larz Anderson Park, in Brookline, Massachusetts. Fourteen of these original 32 vehicles remain in the collection today to enjoy. Since 1927, the Carriage House has also hosted lawn events and other automotive activities and continues to schedule 25 car shows every year.

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Covered in Cool: Colorado in Summer

Arizona Foothills, July 2015

Colorado may be cool in the winter, but the Centennial State is hot in the summer, too, with many activities for everyone in the family. World-famous resorts and areas such as Winter Park, Powderhorn Mountain Resort, Purgatory Resort, Aspen Snowmass and Telluride offer top-quality accommodations, diverse restaurants and proximity to cities, towns and airports. Mountain biking is big, as is wine. Enjoy the mountains, lakes, National Parks, golf, shopping, ballooning and paragliding, tennis, rafting, and music and other cultural festivals. In addition, there’s ziplining, bungee trampolines, climbing walls and miniature golf, river sports, camping, horseback riding and destination excursions such as the historic train ride from Durango to Silverton along the raging Animas River. The locals say, ‘They came for the winter and stayed for the summer.’”

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Carlsbad Bound

McCormick Ranch Lifestyle, Summer 2015

In North San Diego County, Carlsbad Village offers many of the attractions of San Diego, a half hour or so south, and some unique additions. Originally surfer based, much like its neighbors, Oceanside and Laguna Beach, the young-beat but low-keyed Carlsbad Village has become a wonderfully walkable community of locally owned businesses, vintage furniture and custom board stores, bike shops and other welcoming boutiques. The Village has 30-plus restaurants, cafes, wine stores and microbreweries, a variety of weekly and seasonal events and regular entertainment. Accommodations are outstanding, too, such as the Cape Rey Carlsbad, a Hilton Resort, just south of town, and the Beach Terrace Inn, that’s snug up to the beach.

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The Artistry of the Allison

Western Art & Architecture, May/June 2015

The 85-room/suite Allison Inn, less than an hour drive from Portland, celebrates the area’s topography, textures, wine terroir, history and art on 35 beautifully landscaped acres in the famed Willamette Valley. Today, where the four-level inn serves as a gateway to Oregon’s famed wine country, ice-age Missoula Floods once laid down rich volcanic topsoil from what is now Montana and Washington, forming ancient Lake Allison to depths reaching 400 feet. Nurtured over millennia, this fertile lake bed has produced one of the world’s premier vinicultural areas, renowned, in particular, for earthy, deeply textured Pinot Noirs, available at many of its 200-plus vineyards. The inn is also a gallery: Inside and out of the Allison, 500 pieces of original artwork showcase the work of 100 Oregonian artists.

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The Herbergers’ Points of View

Sophisticated Living, March/April 2015

A sky island, the 8,000-plus 8,000-plus square-foot Scottsdale Waterfront residence for long-time Valleyites, Judd and Billie Jo Herberger, celebrates the couple’s diverse passions: for Arizona, travel, for the arts and beauty. The couple’s Los Angeles-based interior designer, Bonnie Sachs, ASID, helped, and continues to unite the three individual units into one. Among the unique joys is a dining room with a ceiling evocative of the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California. Not only do the Herbergers enjoy the building’s luxurious amenities, such as the rooftop pool and a first-floor club room, but they have found downtown Scottsdale convenient for restaurants, boutiques and events. “We love all the colors, textures, the art, beauty and creative energy that we are surrounded with every day,” Billie Jo says.

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Henry Ford Museum: Always Moving Ahead

Highline Autos, November 2013

Nov. 22, 1963. Dallas, Texas: Fifty-three years ago, the Earth stood still as a fanatical sharpshooter, perched inside a sixth-floor warehouse window, murdered a young president who represented the hopes of a new generation of Americans. The Henry Ford Museum® in Dearborn, Michigan displays the Lincoln Continental in which he was assassinated. In addition, the museum showcases tens of thousands of Americana artifacts, such as the bus on which Montgomery, Alabama’s Rosa Parks stayed seated and stood tall; technological innovation (Henry Ford’s history-shifting racecar); and social and political revolution, including one of the few hand-written copies of the Declaration of Independence. Motor on inside this great hall and see why you’re so proud to be an American.

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Funston House

Western Art & Architecture, October/November 2014

A recent awardee by the Historic Hotels of America, The Inn at the Presidio is a stroll away from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Built in 1908, the 22-room boutique hotel was originally purposed as the unmarried officers’ quarters until the extensive renovation began in 2008 by The Presidio Trust. The Inn opened to great response three years later. Recently added at the Inn is the Funston House, a separate residence which sleeps up to eight people in three bedrooms and one master suite. It honors Brig. General Frederick Funston (Sept. 11, 1865-Feb. 19, 1917), former Presidio of San Francisco commander. Dating to 1889, when the building was an Army officer’s residence or “quarters,” Funston House has been beautifully renovated to combine contemporary style and comfort while maintaining the integrity of the Greek Revival style.

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Del Mar: It’s Off to the Races!

Arizona Foothills, September 2014

Welcoming those who love horse racing at the historic Del Mar Race Track are the California seaside town’s fine hotels, such as the L’Auberge Del Mar and Hotel Indigo Del Mar, and upscale restaurants and shops. Opened in 1937, the track was a partnership of Bing Crosby, Pat O’Brien, Gary Cooper, Joe E. Brown, Oliver Hardy and businessman Charles S. Howard. A year later, one of the great match races took place, Aug. 12, 1938, when the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club hosted a $25,000 winner-take-all match race between Howard’s immortal Seabiscuit and the Binglin Stable’s colt, Ligaroti, with Seabiscuit taking honors. History, luxury, great food and shopping until you drop down in peace on the beach: Del Mar is a gallop or a trot away. Saddle up, head on over!

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Hotel Del Coronado

Highline Autos, August 2014

One local paper enthused, in 1888, of the new Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego: “The story of Aladdin and his wonderful palace, built in a single night, comes closer to being realized into actual fact upon this Coronado beach than possibly any other place on earth known to man.” A magic lamp for so long and to so many, the 679-room Hotel Del — the second largest wooden structure in the United States and a Queen-Anne-style Victorian masterpiece — has welcomed L. Frank Baum, Wizard of Oz author, Charles Lindbergh, Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Mae West, Clark Gable, Judy Garland and Bogie and Bacall, among others. And, in 1958, Billy Wilder chose the Del to film what some consider the greatest comedy movie ever: Some Like it Hot with Tony Curtis, Jack Lemon and Marilyn Monroe. Memories are made at the Del for sure, but so many are here waiting when you arrive.

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The Lodge at Torrey Pines

Western Art & Architecture, April/May 2014

The superlative Lodge at Torrey Pines is on a bluff looking toward the Pacific Ocean and adjacent to the 2,000-acre Torrey Pines State Reserve and the Torrey Pines Golf Course. The 6.5-acre resort embodies the spirit of the Greene brothers whose California Craftsman architectural style was inspired by the Arts & Crafts movement of the latter 19th and early 20th centuries.The AAA Five Diamond property, between La Jolla and Del Mar, also celebrates the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868–1928), the Scottish architect and Art Nouveau artist. And, its rooms and suites have furnishings in the style of Gustav Stickley (1858–1942) and wallpapers recalling the work of William Morris (1834-1896).

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Philly Fantastic: Simeone Museum

Highline Autos, April 2014

Next time you’re in the City of Brotherly Love, before you altruistically cruise over to Pat’s Steaks, ascend Rocky’s favorite art museum steps and grab a hot pretzel on a cold street corner, stop in at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum. One of the world’s great collections of racing sports cars has been meticulously assembled during 50 years of collecting by Philadelphia neurosurgeon, Dr. Frederick Simeone. The eponymous museum contains approximately 65 of the rarest and most significant race cars, 1909 to the mid ‘70s, including a 1912 National Speed Car powered by a 7-litre engine which, in a similar car, powered the only stock car model to win the Indianapolis 500, in 1912.

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Red Rock Bliss

Arizona Foothills, February 2014

L’Auberge de Sedona celebrates its 32nd anniversary this year beneath the world famous red rocks and amidst Sedona’s much-discussed spiritual, or energy, vortexes. The 11-acre resort on Oak Creek Canyon recently added Vista Cottages, 100 feet or so above the creek floor and the central campus. These offer guests stunning views of landmarks such as Thumb Butte & The Bench, Camel Head and everyone’s favorite, Snoopy Rock, featuring Charles Schultz’ supine canine, legs up and Woodstock propped playfully on his chin. A heated salt-water pool maintained at 84 degrees and adjacent spa have also been added. The 5,000 square-foot Spa at L’Auberge has been redesigned, and the resort’s superb Executive Chef Rochelle Daniel bases her seasonally changing meals on as many locally grown ingredients as she can find. Check it out here, and check in.

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The Tequila Goddess at Valentine’s Day

Arizona Foothills, February 2014

Abeer Besharieh (“blessing”), the Tequila Goddess at the Fairmont Princess in Scottsdale, knows an Anejo from a Super Anejo. Because of this, she oversees her domain at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess with meticulous care, wisdom and joy for the increasingly popular drink from Mexico. Also at the festive destination resort, Forest Hamrick, chef de cuisine at La Hacienda, its exceptional Mexican restaurant, has paired five premium sips and dishes, starters to dessert. “The more I sip, the more I learn about tequila, and the more I visit the motherland of tequila, the more I fall in love with this elegant spirit,” Besharieh says. “I love tequila because it’s more than just another spirit; it has its own culture, art and traditions.”

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Connectivity: Celebration of Fine Art

Western Art & Architecture, January/February 2014

Every year in Scottsdale, 50,000 or so visitors view the work of 100 artists from throughout the country at the Celebration of Fine Art (CFA). In 2014, the annual arts event continued through March 23 at the southwest corner of the Loop 101 and Hayden Road. Part gallery, wording studio and juried art show, the event showcases the art beneath 40,000 square feet of signature white tents. Outside is a one-acre landscaped sculpture garden. A major dynamic is its variety of styles and mediums, with bronzes and ceramics, furniture, figurative and representational paintings of artifacts, such as paintings of beaded moccasins and weavings. What’s more, offerings are always changing, as artists create in interactive studios beside their galleries while the CFA continues. So, sketch out some space in your calendar this winter for this colorful arts event.

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