Photos by Alex Vertikoff Floor-to-ceiling glass walls open the main living spaces to the outdoors. Homeowner Dena Howry, who designed the interiors, pieced together 20 flokati rugs instead of buying one large rug to anchor the seating area. Italian porcelain flooring is elegant and Contemporary yet can withstand heavy outdoor-to-indoor foot traffic. The pearly white concrete countertops in the kitchen are “a little temperamental,” Howry admits, but offer exactly the clean look she wanted.

After 52 Moves, Dena and Bob Howry Get the House of Their Dreams

When it came to building her dream home, nothing was going to stop Dena Howry. Not bungled designs, construction delays, unexpected costs, not even a flood.

After moving 52 times for husband Bob’s professional sports career, she and her family were finally back home in northwest Phoenix to stay, with an acre lot of their own and 35 acres of undisturbed desert just beyond.

“It took four years and a lot of headaches to build this house,” Howry says. “But once we found the right people, it all came together.”

Architect Barry Goldstein was one of those people. He was the third and final architect for the project, and the one who took the house from its original Tuscan design to the open Contemporary style it is today. Initially hired to design a second-level addition and guest bedroom for the residence—which at that point was already in the foundation stage—Goldstein says he saw a disconnect between the homeowners’ Contemporary artwork and furnishings and the existing architectural plan.

“We do like Contemporary,” Howry says. “But we were going with the typical style of home you see on this side of town. After talking with Barry, we dared to be cool.”

The design did an about-face. “The problem was the original material palette was stone and 18-inch-square tile, which would have been more appropriate for a Tuscan-style house,” Goldstein says. “Now, the house is more Usonian, with horizontal roof planes, floor-to-ceiling glass, a central fireplace mass and masonry framework.”

The table in the light-filled kitchen was outfitted with stainless steel “platform shoes” to better suit the couple’s above-average heights. The light fixture is made from a single piece of spun metal. Aluminum window frames help create the Modern, uncluttered look the homeowners sought. The space opens to an alfresco living area.

Perhaps the most important part of the new design is how it celebrates the outdoors, welcoming it into almost every room of the house with walls of windows.

“If you walk up to the house at dusk, you can see the sunset all the way through the front door and back windows,” Howry remarks.

Those windows telescope open to a backyard that offers amenities for all seasons, including a diving pool for hot summer months, a fire pit for cool fall evenings, and a seating area with a TV for sipping coffee on mild spring mornings. Deep overhangs shield the various seating areas from direct sun year-round. Completing the space is an outdoor kitchen, a dining bar and—for some friendly competitive fun—a putting green and basketball court.

Howry was hands-on, selecting materials for both indoors and out, and spending time on-site making sure the work was being done just right. She also spent “hours and hours” online looking for furniture and accessories. If she found a bargain, she didn’t hesitate to buy and store it, and if she found something extravagant she loved, she found a way to get it for less.

“Some of the complications with building the house ate into our budget,” Howry says. “I still have my dream house. I just learned I had to get creative and make some changes and compromises along the way in order to get it.”

Shadowboxes built into a stairwell landing hold two of Bob Howry’s baseball jerseys. The relief pitcher retired earlier this year, after 769 Major League appearances.

Everything in the dining room was purchased and stored before the house was completed. Dining chairs with high-gloss backs and easy-to-clean microsuede seats are paired with a glass-top table. Artwork composed of a series of metal discs hangs on the wall. Smooth Venetian plastered walls indoors contrast with the exterior masonry. The exterior walls were bead-blasted with “thousands of BB’s” to expose the colored stone aggregate materials that make up the body of the block, explains architect Barry Goldstein.

A glam corner of the master bedroom opens to an expansive patio.

Subtle stripes of alternating high-gloss and flat paint add interest to the white walls. After 13 seasons playing Major League baseball, Bob Howry is happy to have a home base. “It’s tough to beat sleeping in your own bed every night,” he says.