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Homepage / Architecture  / Worth the Wait: This Stunning Carefree Home Took 30 Years to Complete

Worth the Wait: This Stunning Carefree Home Took 30 Years to Complete

Three decades after they bought a hillside lot, a couple enjoys the fruits of their labors.

By Nora Burba Trulsson | Photography by Kevin Kaminski

Up a long hillside driveway in Carefree, visitors might start comparing its hairpin turns to 89A as it rises out of Oak Creek Canyon, not to mention fighting off anxious thoughts of having to back down the same way. Luckily, there’s plenty of room to turn around at the top—and the reward for the ascent is an up-close view of the home, an architectural tour de force, tucked into the desert site, which features vast views and a masterful mix of materials.

The driveway—er, path—to building this abode began in 1994 when a couple who divides their time between Chicago and Carefree bought the steep, 4-acre lot to build their dream retirement home. Between working, saving money and recession setbacks, the project had starts and stops over the years. With an initial thought of doing something in an adobe architectural motif, the couple switched gears when they met architect Justin Kilbane, who suggested a contemporary design.

He had a no-holds-barred approach to make the most of the site and its expansive views of the Valley, from Camelback Mountain to State Farm Stadium. Several years ago, the project began, and Kilbane brought in the talents of builder John Gurley, a Phoenix Home & Garden Master of the Southwest; interior designer Kendra Kilbane and landscape designer George Iddings.

“The steep site, City of Carefree zoning restrictions and the owners’ needs helped shape the house,” says Justin Kilbane. “Other than that, the owners trusted me on the aesthetics.” Says Gurley of the process, “This house was a puzzle of unique design and materials that needed to be done right.”

Completed in 2023, the 6,200-square-foot house is filled with architectural details and includes the owners’ specific requests, including an upper-level, glass-walled office for the husband; an open, efficient kitchen for the wife; plenty of entertaining space and a shaded pool. In elevation, the abode has a series of layered heights, with glass walls shaded by generous overhangs. Indoors and out, materials such as stone, metal, wood and textured tile provide a visually rich setting, while inside, triangular forms define the floor plan.

“We were planning for our future with this house,” says the wife, remembering 30 years ago. “I used to scramble up the hill with a big camcorder to take videos of the site, and my husband would sit in the cul-de-sac below our lot with a beer to watch the sunsets. I have to pinch myself because our dream came true.”

The home’s L-shaped pool includes a shaded section, visible from inside the entry. “There’s limited space for a pool on the site, so we put it at the front of the house,” says architect Justin Kilbane. “I added a big window wall to make it part of the entry, where it serves as a water feature.” The pool, with its fountain and copper rain element, was an engineering challenge for builder John Gurley. “The guest bedrooms are on one side of the pool, so we had to make sure there was waterproofing,” Gurley explains. “The footings for the fireplace in the living room are actually under the pool.”
A walnut and metal staircase floats up to a bar and home office, while the custom front door sets the tone for the interior’s triangular patterns. Architect Kilbane came up with the drywall ceiling pattern, inspired by waves. “The ceilings were crafted by hand on-site,” Gurley says. “They were sanded and recoated multiple times.” Troughs in the ceiling, which splay out, hide lighting, vents and sprinklers.
A triangular plan proved to be efficient for the kitchen, which, in turn, inspired the walnut ceiling treatments. The chiseled glass backsplash extends up to the ceiling.
A black granite-clad fireplace warms the primary bedroom, where the home’s stone, tile and wood materials are repeated.
The hallway to the guest bedrooms includes illuminated steps and a textured, chevron-patterned tile wall.
The sunny segment of the pool and the patio sit below the home office and balcony. The balcony railing is a series of irregular-height steel posts, a signature design element by architect Terry Kilbane, Justin Kilbane’s father, who started on the project initially before retiring and handing it over to Justin.
Set into a steep hillside, the home angles along the site, with several layers of retaining walls allowing for a building pad and a winding driveway. “We started by carving out the driveway,” explains Gurley, “and the fire department required a turn-around because it was far above the road. Doing the building site and driveway was a hard dig because of all the granite.” Landscape designer George Iddings revegetated construction scars and filled tiered retaining walls with agaves, golden barrels, white lantanas, yuccas and other drought-tolerant plantings.
In the great room, a fireplace divides the entry from the living area. Interior designer Kendra Kilbane added drama with textured porcelain tile, sleek black granite and walnut on the triangular form to the left. The architect created a series of triangular walnut soffits for the ceiling, adding warmth and scale to the setting, as well as a place to tuck in lighting.
The dining room was an area where the interior designer pulled out all the stops. The 16-foot ceiling allowed for a series of hand-blown pendants to dangle above the table, while metallic tile wall cladding picked up the glow from the illuminated floor-to-ceiling wine shelves. “The owners said, ‘Give us everything you’ve got,’” Kilbane recalls. “They wanted something show-stopping and unique.”
The primary bedroom’s leather bed is a counterpoint to the rugged texture of the stone walls. Nightstands are integrated into the walnut wall behind the bed. “We used a lot of neutrals throughout the house,” says Kendra Kilbane. “We brought in a subtle touch of pink in the bedroom’s area rug.”
The powder room features backlit onyx troughs that cascade into the sink, another engineering feat for the builder. “This was such a custom design that we didn’t know if it would work until we turned it on,” says Gurley with a laugh. “We added the small pyramid piece in the sink so the water wouldn’t splash.”
Stone-clad fins shelter the spa outside the primary bedroom. Iddings created a garden effect in beds and pots, with plantings such as jasmine, lavender, agaves and yuccas.

SOURCES

  • Architect: Justin Kilbane, The JK Companies, Carefree, jk.studio.
  • Builder: John Gurley, RJ Gurley Construction, Scottsdale, rjgurley.com.
  • Interior designer: Kendra Kilbane, Kendra Kilbane Design, Scottsdale, @kendra.kilbane.design.
  • Landscape designer: George Iddings, Iddings & Sons Landscaping, Phoenix, iddingsandsons.com.
  • Lighting designer: Walter Spitz, Creative Designs In Lighting, Scottsdale, cdltg.com.
  • ENTRY—Front door (custom): fabricated by Arcadia Custom, Tucson, arcadiacustom.com.
  • Pendant lights: hammerton.com.
  • Flooring: Facings of America, Scottsdale, facingsofamerica.com.
  • Ceiling drywall treatment: Saguaro Drywall, Phoenix, saguarodrywall.com.
  • GREAT ROOM—Fireplace tile: facingsofamerica.com.
  • Ceiling soffits: Quail Hill Interiors, Phoenix, quailhillinteriors.com.
  • KITCHEN—Cabinetry: quailhillinteriors.com.
  • Appliances: subzero-wolf.com.
  • Countertops: Cactus Stone & Tile, Phoenix, cactustile.com.
  • Bar stools: hollyhunt.com.
  • DINING ROOM—Chairs: hollyhunt.com.
  • Pendant lights: hammerton.com.
  • Wall tile: facingsofamerica.com.
  • PRIMARY BEDROOM—Bed and bench: renecazares.com.
  • Nightstands and wall cladding: quailhillinteriors.com.
  • Pendant lights: hubbardtonforge.com.
  • Area rug: feizy.com.
  • GUEST BEDROOM HALLWAY—Wall and floor tile: facingsofamerica.com.
  • Metal sculptures: globalviews.com.
  • POWDER ROOM—Onyx countertop and sink: Galleria of Stone, Phoenix, galleriaofstoneaz.com.
  • Wall tile: facingsofamerica.com.
  • POOL PATIO—Outdoor furniture: janusetcie.com; sunsetwestusa.com
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