Once you fall in love with the Sonoran Desert landscape, it can be hard to shake. So, it’s perhaps no surprise that soon after their children fledged the nest, one couple felt themselves being pulled back to Arizona, where the wife had lived after college and where their daughter attended university. Paradise Valley beckoned, with its hushed neighborhoods tucked amid the mountainous landscape. The two discovered a Mediterranean-style abode whose welcoming scale and warm aesthetic appealed, then enlisted designer Jennie Gruss to imbue it with a clean, Santa Barbara-inspired aesthetic—a delicate yet doable challenge.
The house had undergone a mishmash of renovations since its original 1990s construction by builder Nancy Brunkhorst, and the first point of order for Gruss—who had worked with the family on multiple previous projects—was to peel back those layers. With the help of Nancy and general contractor Brock Brunkhorst, the designer set to work revitalizing the estate while honoring the character that attracted the owners in the first place. Paramount on the must-keep list was the hand-plastered detailing, long a specialty of the Brunkhorsts. “Plaster is so timeless,” Nancy says. “I’ve always told people, ‘When you walk into a fully plastered home, you don’t see it immediately; you feel it.’ ”
Home Details
Interior Design:
Jennie Gruss and Laurel Wilson, Jennie Gruss Interior Design Inc.
Home Builder:
Nancy Brunkhorst and Brock Brunkhorst, Nance Construction Inc.
Landscape Architecture:
Harrison Hoffman, Roots First Landscape
Styling:
Yedda Morrison
Intended to age beautifully, the kitchen’s wood island and patinated brass frame suit the accompanying McGuire counter stools. Roman and Williams Guild pendants and a cone sconce from Obsolete shed light on the space.
A Lindsey Adelman Studio chandelier crowns the dining room’s Cassina chairs and Formations table.
In the living room, a sculpture by Stephen De Staebler sits next to a vintage Dick Cordemeijer for Auping Cleopatra daybed covered in Holly Hunt’s Great Plains fabric. A rug from Woven adds softness underfoot.
Alongside two armchairs from Shoppe Amber Interiors, a sofa from the same brand anchors the living room. The wood coffee table is by Atelier Demiurge; its vintage stone counterpart is from Chairish.
Sixpenny chairs and a CB2 oak pedestal table center the breakfast nook, all grounded by clé’s Flemish Black terra-cotta tile. A Hector Finch light illuminates the owners’ artwork.
Penhaglion’s Charroux cast-iron tub creates a focal point in the owners’ bathroom, lit by a Pinch pendant. The flooring is mosaic Bianco Dolomiti from Artistic Tile.
In the primary bedroom, Chase Erwin drapery hangs from a Rose Uniacke bed canopy, providing a moment of theater around the RH bed. A handblown glass pendant by Amy Meier suspends overhead, and a distressed silk rug from Woven rests beneath.
Beside the custom door, a French mirror and Roman and Williams Guild console are illuminated by a 1940s Italian light fixture.
Outside, a pair of B&B Italia sofas flank a reclaimed stone fire pit. Landscape designer Harrison Hoffman repurposed most of the original plantings to immediately give the yard a mature appearance.
To make an immediate statement, Gruss worked with designer Laurel Wilson to envision an eye-catching entry door. Crafted of walnut with cutout details inspired by Spanish and Moorish patterns, the resulting portal stands nearly 10 feet tall. Inside, the floors, which originally stepped down from the entry and again between the living room and kitchen, were leveled to create one flat, flowing surface from the front door to the back porch. Gruss selected a black terra-cotta tile set in a herringbone pattern to add extra dimension, painting the walls a warm shade of white painstakingly selected from a dozen options they tested against the terrain’s kaleidoscopic glare. “In the desert, everything is so vibrant outside—the blue sky, the red ground and the green of the plants—that it reflects inside and changes how the walls look,” Gruss observes.
Those desert hues also inspired the colors selected to inflect the mostly neutral interior palette: a dusty rose mimicking Camelback Mountain clads the powder room, while soft greens thread through chairs and sofas, joined by brown accents throughout. “It evokes a sense of place, and it’s reflective of the taste of the client,” Gruss explains. “I love a neutral palette, but I also am designing in collaboration with the end user.”
To that end, the homeowners and designer decamped to Los Angeles on a buying trip for vintage pieces, art and area rugs that lend instant gravitas. “My approach is very texture focused,” Gruss says. “I always play with a variety of layers.” She also kept in mind each textile’s ability to age gracefully, especially in high-traffic areas. The main sofa in the living room, for instance, wears a soft green linen that will develop a beautiful lived-in look, while the neighboring vintage daybed is covered in performance-grade velvet.
From reupholstered pieces to custom lighting, the decor is a layered tapestry of new and old. “There’s a combination of vintage and new productions,” Gruss points out. “I love mixing metals, and I love patina.” In the kitchen, brass pots and pans mounted on a long metal rail add dimension to the patinated and blackened brass in the island frame and counter stools. The dining room, too, is a play on balance, with midcentury saddle-leather chairs juxtaposed with a custom tube chandelier and new extension table well-suited for hosting dinner parties.
Outside, living areas form cozy vignettes amid a dreamy desert garden by landscape designer Harris Hoffman, who was able to repurpose most of the original plantings that first attracted the homeowners. His team potted, labeled and replanted about 90% of the immense cacti and other mature natives in the new schema, immediately instilling a grown-in look typically only bestowed by time. These set the stage for a lovely seating area, anchored by a fire pit made of a salvaged French trough.
Indoors and out, the property exudes a feeling that’s both impeccable and effortless. “I love how approachable the house is,” Gruss says. “There’s a refinement to it, but it’s also so livable.”
Beside the custom door, a French mirror and Roman and Williams Guild console are illuminated by a 1940s Italian light fixture.