In this home’s meandering gardens, there is a surprise around every corner.

It’s like a scene from a fairytale. Deep in the heart of Paradise Valley, a mountain-framed estate is studded with a mélange of vibrant plantings. Mesquite and paloverde trees burst upwards from terraces, their tousled branches obscuring this hillside haven. 

Blazing bougainvillea spills over walls like splashes of paint. A meandering wash wraps around the front of the property and, during heavy rains, guides water like a river.

The descent into this warm and welcoming beauty is a journey unto itself. Stairs lead to an arched wrought-iron gateway sheathed in vines, providing a peek into the lush courtyard. There, a path crosses a bridge lined with purple-flecked trailing rosemary that hovers over a lagoon-style swimming pool. The cascading waterfall and whispering palm trees provide the soundtrack for a litany of hummingbirds and bees as they flit from bloom to bloom.

The home’s glass front door frames this vignette from the inside and leads across the great room into the recently refreshed backyard, where a burbling rock fountain provides respite for finches, flickers, mourning doves and other winged visitors.

A meditation path cocooned by trees weaves around the perimeter, inviting contemplative walks for owners Mike and Genevieve Hogan. It also makes a dynamic playground for their grandkids, who can be found climbing the rocks, hiding among the outcroppings or playing hopscotch on the winding steppingstones that connect the patios. Every part of the outdoor space is meant to engage the senses and was framed by views inside the house, thanks to Phoenix Home & Garden Masters of the Southwest award-winning landscape architect Donna Winters.

“It’s just magical,” Winters says of the setting. “This is a sacred place of healing, where you can get solace from nature.”

When the Hogans first discovered the home—which was built in 2001 and once owned by a member of the Wrigley family—they loved the siting and the charming Spanish Colonial aesthetic. “It seemed too good to be true,” Genevieve recalls. “It was like a place of wonder where anything could happen.”

But the landscapes were not quite ready for their happily ever after. Before the couple decided to re-imagine the space, the backyard was largely river rock and barely accessible. “A low yellow wall looped around the perimeter, and there was a spitting lion fountain,” Genevieve recalls. “We wanted the landscape to feel more natural, not too formal, as if it had always been here. Once the first patio was completed, we thought, ‘Wow, this is so beautiful—now let’s connect it and make it all feel like that.’”

Genevieve was adamant about one thing: no straight lines. “I needed everything to move and bend and feel natural,” she says. “A more modern house has straight lines where everything is planned and developed. I didn’t want that. Even inside the house, everything has curves.”

Winters incorporated boulders and quilted the yard in bursts of flowers and sculptural desert plantings. “When in season, the bougainvillea turns the backyard into a sea of red. Bird of paradise comes up behind it, with a foreground of purple and white lantana,” describes Genevieve.

To create a sense of discovery, Winters carved out walking paths and hidden hideaways, including a sitting area with a tree swing and a built-in peanut-shaped children’s play area using excess gravel from the project. “The grandkids can run along this path and have ‘jungle adventures,’” Winters says. “I wanted to create a place where they could jump or crawl over the boulders.” Oleanders provide not only privacy from the neighbors but also a wall of greenery. What was once an underutilized space is now a place for entertaining, wandering, exploring and leisure.

Winters and her team were meticulous about experiencing every aspect of the interior of the home to determine views and vantage points through the windows and create “scenes,” as the designer calls them. The windows became like living landscape paintings, framing the plantscapes outside. “The best homes and landscapes come out the way they do because of those types of interactions,” Winters says. “The Hogans helped us understand every experience in every room.”

Winters and her crew of lighting designers also performed this ritual at night to determine the optimal downlighting. “It’s almost like a tracery effect, just like the moon shining down,” Mike remarks. “It’s a real enchanted woods kind of a thing.”

In front of the home, the team removed paloverde trees that were blocking the views and enhanced the existing cactus garden to create focal points and draw the eyes from the elevated street level downward. “We had to reorganize some things, but you can see there is still variation and undulation,” Winters states. “It’s much more layered now.”

With their homestead now complete, the Hogans enjoy walking the pathways and maintaining the flora Winters incorporated. “Originally, my favorite area was the front courtyard, but now we engage with all of the outdoor spaces,” Genevieve says. “I like working with the plants, pruning them and talking to them. It’s a pleasure to be able to interact with my garden.”

Adds Winters: “None of this happened accidentally. It was a labor of love—and it always will be.”

Sources

Landscape architect: Donna Winters, Enchanted Garden Landscapes Inc., Phoenix, enchantedgardenaz.com.
Entry landing—Horse sculpture: Tom Christiansen, (218) 663-7008, represented by Xanadu Gallery, Scottsdale, art.xanadugallery.com.