A simple design concept produces an extravagant masterpiece.

“Sometimes, a sense of incredible complexity and sophistication can materialize from the simplest of ideas,” says Phoenix Home & Garden Masters of the Southwest award-winning architect Jon Bernhard.

That is certainly true of one of the Scottsdale-based architect’s masterworks, a 9,000-square-foot home on the east side of Camelback Mountain in Paradise Valley. The residence is an ultramodern circular affair designed entirely to emanate from a single radius point at the front entry.

Bernhard approaches each of his projects with a substantive conversation with his clients. “When you walk in the front door, what do you want to experience?” he says. “If you like a certain style, what exactly is it about that style that is pleasing? Then we can begin to emphasize that specific characteristic to draw out the essence of what they’re really after.”

Originally intended to be a year-long renovation on a second home for a California-based couple, the Paradise Valley project morphed into a four-year-long endeavor that included tripling the home’s original square footage. The clients ultimately sold their primary home to permanently settle in the new Arizona digs.

The project first entailed a careful study of the 5-acre site on a flattened-out hillside, which was restored to its historic grade. The architect was inspired by the geographic contours and realized that the restored grades would enable the floor level of the home to be situated above the surrounding tree line, offering better vistas.

A view from above reveals the geometric design premise: a parabolic copper roof with a quarter section of the circle missing at the front of the home. The project required a platform to be built about 10 feet off the ground so that the team could use lengths of string affixed to the center point to help define the radial perimeter and measure the placement and alignment of countless design features. “Being able to use a constant reference point kept things very precise,” Bernhard says.

The precision demanded by the design required an extraordinary amount of craftsmanship. The copper roof panels, for instance, were all hand-cut for the arching layout. Similarly, all ceiling, floor surfaces and fasciae were fabricated to adhere seamlessly to the concentric patterns.

Setting the dramatic radial theme for the home is its double stairway to the front door, which previews some of the prominent water features. At the entry, large fountains form a backdrop to a sculpture garden. Water cascades down the steps to a small pond with a bronze sculpture of a boar—inspired by a renowned public artwork in Florence, Italy. On the mountain side, the reconstructed slope, which incorporated nearly 500 tons of imported and native granite boulders, features water flowing from above the home into a pool adjacent to the dining room and gallery, creating an illusion that the rooms are floating.

Setting the dramatic radial theme for the home is its double stairway to the front door, which previews some of the prominent water features.

Setting the dramatic radial theme for the home is its double stairway to the front door, which previews some of the prominent water features. At the entry, large fountains form a backdrop to a sculpture garden. Water cascades down the steps to a small pond with a bronze sculpture of a boar—inspired by a renowned public artwork in Florence, Italy. On the mountain side, the reconstructed slope, which incorporated nearly 500 tons of imported and native granite boulders, features water flowing from above the home into a pool adjacent to the dining room and gallery, creating an illusion that the rooms are floating.

The project involved a number of other elaborate and technically demanding efforts. “Jon employed some extreme structural design elements such as cantilevers and large open spaces without margins, casings or decorative trims to conceal transitions,” explains Rick Wilcoxson, the project’s construction superintendent. “One of the biggest challenges was pushing excellent craftsmen to up their game to new heights.”

Bernhard was encouraged by the superior workmanship throughout the project—and by the homeowners’ involvement. The husband had a background in civil engineering and grew increasingly enthusiastic as the process evolved. And the wife “was very involved in the interior design, including much of the material selection, the wood, the stone and color palettes,” he recalls. “She really knew her stuff.”

Ultimately, the results speak for themselves. In every space, inside and out, the “wow” factor abounds. As Wilcoxson succinctly puts it: “It’s more than a house. It’s a large, habitable work of art.”