One Scottsdale family’s simple renovation snowballs into a fairytale transformation.

Home renovations are rarely a simple endeavor. But when Brian and Becky DelGhiaccio decided to remodel the front of their 6,000-square-foot Scottsdale home, they had no idea they were about to step onto a winding path of wondrous changes.

“It was your typical older stucco house, and everything had a Southwest feel. There wasn’t much curb appeal,” Brian says. After purchasing the house in 2016, the couple reworked their front hardscaping, drawing inspiration from Arcadia’s regal brick ranches. “The bricks on our house are repurposed from old buildings in Chicago,” he says. “They got a second life; otherwise they would’ve ended up tossed.”

Unfortunately, the desert landscaping looked out of place with the Old-World charm of the reclaimed brick facade and new vaulted entryway. So the DelGhiaccios worked with Phoenix Home & Garden Masters of the Southwest award-winning landscape designer Jeremy McVicars to develop a romantic, European-style garden that would provide a warmer welcome.

Soon, rows of willowy crepe myrtle trees, abundant white roses and tailored dwarf myrtle hedges flanked a paver walkway to the front door. “We wanted to make walking up the path to the home an experience, a walk the homeowners and their guests can enjoy,” McVicars explains. In spring, the delicate trees overflow with clustered purple blossoms. “I love that they are seasonal—the fact that they lose their leaves in winter, and you get to see them come to life,” Becky says. “You don’t always get that experience in Arizona.”

Farther along the path, in a small cove tucked beside the vaulted archway, a rectangular fountain burbles low to the ground. Seasonally planted geraniums in vibrant crimson add contrast to verdant Japanese mock orange shrubs and ivy-covered brick walls plucked from the fairytale playbook. 

The fountain sparked a good-natured debate between the homeowners and McVicars’ team, who initially suggested bringing in a relic from overseas. “We showed them pictures of a fountain that was 300-400 years old,” recalls Marcos Carillo, landscape project manager. “It’s a conversation starter, but there’s definitely a cost in it,” he says. As a compromise, the group settled on a custom concrete basin.

Unfortunately, the desert landscaping looked out of place with the Old-World charm of the reclaimed brick facade and new vaulted entryway. So the DelGhiaccios worked with Phoenix Home & Garden Masters of the Southwest award-winning landscape designer Jeremy McVicars to develop a romantic, European-style garden that would provide a warmer welcome.

Soon, rows of willowy crepe myrtle trees, abundant white roses and tailored dwarf myrtle hedges flanked a paver walkway to the front door. “We wanted to make walking up the path to the home an experience, a walk the homeowners and their guests can enjoy,” McVicars explains. In spring, the delicate trees overflow with clustered purple blossoms. “I love that they are seasonal—the fact that they lose their leaves in winter, and you get to see them come to life,” Becky says. “You don’t always get that experience in Arizona.”

“Every September I’m excited to garden. It’s like a chemistry experiment. Some years everything grows; other years I don’t know what’s going on.”

—Becky DelGhiaccio, homeowner

Farther along the path, in a small cove tucked beside the vaulted archway, a rectangular fountain burbles low to the ground. Seasonally planted geraniums in vibrant crimson add contrast to verdant Japanese mock orange shrubs and ivy-covered brick walls plucked from the fairytale playbook.

The fountain sparked a good-natured debate between the homeowners and McVicars’ team, who initially suggested bringing in a relic from overseas. “We showed them pictures of a fountain that was 300-400 years old,” recalls Marcos Carillo, landscape project manager. “It’s a conversation starter, but there’s definitely a cost in it,” he says. As a compromise, the group settled on a custom concrete basin.

The DelGhiaccios were prepared to leave the desert landscaping of their triangular-shaped backyard untouched—after all, it was attractive and functional enough. There was even a chipping green tucked around a hidden corner beside the casita. But after a year of living with disparate front and back landscaping, they consulted with McVicars, and a new plan evolved.

The slate would be literally wiped clean, the yard taken down to dirt, with only the pool and a few palm trees escaping the backhoe’s wrath. In its place emerged a romantic, meticulously manicured scene reminiscent of the Red Queen’s grounds in “Alice in Wonderland.”

“Some people say it looks like an English garden, but we weren’t really going for that look. We simply wanted a refreshing, serene feeling outdoors,” Becky says.

A path lined with crepe myrtle and myrtle hedges mirrors the front walkway. Dozens of white iceberg rose bushes nestle on both sides, a curvaceous tiered fountain perched in the center. Pristine hedgerows separate the garden from lush, green lawn, while closer to the patio, Japanese Privet topiaries stand like evergreen soldiers. Rose bushes are everywhere. “The roses go from barely buds to peppered white in about one week,” Becky observes. “It’s crazy.”

The Wonderland-esque walkway visually culminates in a row of towering cypress lining the property’s back wall. “As designers, we try to push something that’s a focal point,” Carrillo notes. “The homeowners just wanted a few cypress trees, but we suggested a full cypress hedge. It serves a double function as privacy.”

Though most of the property is painstakingly maintained, the homeowners are able to contribute to seasonal changes. Tucked beside a casita covered in trailing lavender snail vines, the former chipping green now houses four elevated garden beds filled with vegetables and colorful annuals like irises and geraniums.

“Every September I’m excited to garden,” Becky says proudly. “It’s like a chemistry experiment. Some years everything grows; other years I don’t know what’s going on.” Each fall, the homeowners also get to select a new color scheme for the picturesque annuals in pots and beds around the property.

Asked if there’s anything else they want to upgrade or change in their landscape, the family agrees. “We’re really glad we did the backyard, and we love it, but we’re done now,” Brian concludes. “We’re just going to continue to enjoy it.”

SOURCES

Landscape designer: Jeremy McVicars, Refined Gardens, Scottsdale, refinedgardens.com. Landscape project manager: Marcos Carrillo, refinedgardens.com.  Masonry and brickwork; pavers, front and backyard and driveway: Brickstone Custom, Phoenix, brickstonecustom.com.