TheTucsonFoothills

going through changes with a Joesler in the Tucson Foothills

Named Diez Vistas, Ten Views, this grand old home built in 1937 by Josias Joesler & John Murphey in the old Tucson Foothills has changed hands three times in the last four years.

The latest sale was just the other day, on May 16 when
it sold for $1,022,000. While just over two years ago, in
March of 2006 it sold for $1,900,000, almost $900,000 more than it did today. 
And before that, in August of 2004 it sold for $1,325,000.

At first glance you'd think WOW! prices in the Foothills are all over the place, and
by the way, why does that Joesler keep turning over.  
But there's more to it than meets the eye. Each of these buyers/sellers had a particular goal in mind when they bought and sold this Joesler, and each contributed to its transformation.

The earliest, and only other recorded sale of this home (that I could find online) was in 1993 for $575,000. So the people who bought it in 1993, owned it until August of 2004 when it sold for $1,325,000.

At the time of that sale in 2004 for $1,325,000, the property details were given as follows;
4690 sf, 6 bedroom/7 baths, including a 1200 sf 3 bed/3 bath
guest house, + a greenhouse, on 4 acres of land.

and it looked like this,

and then there's the kitchen,

These new owners promptly set about renovating this old Joesler, and when they were done,
the listing agent aptly described it as-
John Murphey and Josias Joesler's stunning Santa Fe on a hill on 3.97 acres with 360 degree views. Lovingly restored over the past yet yet retaining all of the original charm and character.
And put it on the market for $1,995,000 with the property details given as follows;
4752 sf, 6 bedroom/7 bath, including a 1200 sf 3 bed/3 bath
guest house, + a greenhouse, on 4 acres of land
(same as the previous listing, give or take)

but now the kitchen looked like this,

along with other nicely done restorations & renovations,

And it sold in March of 2006 for $1,900,000, that's about a year and a half after they bought it for $1,325,000. So it's apparent that these people bought it to renovate it and flip it.
And they did a nice job of it, and quickly too. I think Joesler would be smiling at this one.

Now with this next owner, more radical changes were on the drawing boards.
Having paid $1,900,000 they promptly set about dividing up the four acre parcel into four one acre lots,
with one lot for the Joesler, which they promptly put up for sale, and with plans to build a new home on each of the other three lots, as well as making some other changes to this beautiful old Joesler estate. 

In the aerial view below you can see the four lots stacked vertically.
The three lots circled in red are the one's that were carved out of the original four acre property, and the one in the middle is the remaining one acre lot that's left for the Joesler. The guest house, pool and greenhouse which appear on the southern-most lot were bulldozed to make room for a new home. And the pool was rebuilt on the main lot alongside the Joesler, but the greenhouse and guest house are gone forever.

 

 

So now the Joesler has sold for the third time in just four years, for $1,022,000 on 5/16/08,
with the property details as follows;
3509 sf, 4 bedroom/4 bath, on one acre of land.
(so from the previous sale, it's now minus 1200 sf, -3 beds/3 baths &
-3 acres, with no guest house & no greenhouse)
PS, Nevertheless, I think these buyers got a really good deal at $1,022,000.

And now there are three new homes on those three other lots circled in red, priced from $1,245,000 to $1,595,000. So it's obvious that this owner bought the property to divide and build. It's one of just a few ways to come up with buildable land in the Tucson Foothills these days. And while the Joesler now seems a bit crowded in, thank goodness they didn't knock it down too.

And it's interesting, but not really that surprising, that the Joesler sold before any of the new homes that now surround it. While the new homes are very nicely designed and executed, there are quite a few new or newer homes for sale in the Tucson Foothills, but great Joesler's continue to be a very rare and special find.

For a different slant on building homes in the Tucson Foothills today,
see teardowns in the Tucson Foothills

and see my web site thefoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes

Joesler and Murphey, they started it all, in the Tucson Foothills

Yesterday I went to a party at one of the most beautiful Joesler homes I've ever seen. I walked around speechless for the first 20 minutes. And when I finally came-to, I talked with quite a few people who are into Joesler's, love the old foothills, and are concerned about the preservation of this area.
It made me think of this piece, which I had posted last year, and it inspired me to re-edit it, to try and make it better, and more focused - so I could post it again. I'm not sure I accomplished that, but I love looking at pictures of great Joesler's and they remain untouched from the last version. 
   
John Murphey, the founder and developer of the Catalina Foothills Estates, in partnership with the architect Josias Joesler, were visionaries in the development of the Tucson Foothills, which until they came along, was a remote and undeveloped area of Tucson.

Their vision was to create a lifestyle that would be attractive to wealthy mid-western and eastern families seeking a winter refuge in a desert environment. Tucson's first second home owners.
And the homes designed by Joesler,while meant to evoke a romantic association with the desert, were often large homes on sprawling hilly lots that were surrounded by the beauty and privacy of the natural desert.

Many of those Joesler's survive to this day, and quite a few have been carefully maintained and renovated to provide modern comforts and conveniences, while maintaining the essence and character of Joesler & Murphey's vision. When they're done right, they're incredibly beautiful.
However many (most really) of the original sprawling hilly lots, which ran from ten to fifteen acres or more, have by now been subdivided and whittled down to nearly the size of your typical new Mc Mansion lot, to make way for more homes. There's virtually no other build-able land available, particularly in the Old Foothills, and as R. Brooks Jeffery said in A Guide to Tucson Architecture - "Today, much of the original rural character of the Catalina Foothills has been lost - an ironic consequence of its success". That book was published in 2002, and since then, builders have become even more creative and relentless about squeezing homes onto lots that until recently would not have even been considered. And the effects of that in-fill development have not been positively received by most people in this area, myself included.

The original Catalina Foothills Estates is ideally located in the center of what we now call 'the old Foothills'. It's bordered by Skyline Dr on the north, River Rd on the south, and extends about a third of a mile east and west of Campbell Ave.
Here we're looking north on Campbell Ave from River Rd, which cuts right thru the original Catalina Foothills Estates.

Up here on the left is Calle La Vela -
it's the best street in the Old Foothills for Joesler estates.
I count 9 Joesler's within about a 1/2 mile of this intersection, including the Lee Marvin residence on 12.2 acres.
In the following pictures, you'll see that these homes are very privately located, up on top of a hill or tucked back and away from the street, behind gates and desert foliage.

Like this one

there's a really great Joesler on top of this hill
and another is tucked back there behind those cypress trees.
It was on about 4.5 acres, but not anymore. Last year it was whittled down to about 1 acre, with three new homes built on
the lots that were carved off.

Turning north on Calle Ladero, there's a Joesler behind this entry gate.
Here's a closer look at some of the homes behind those gates and on top of those hills -
these pictures are from 4 different Joesler homes

Clay Tile roofs, thick adobe walls, arches, lots of private outdoor areas for recreation and relaxation, all Joesler signatures

Joesler used deep overhanging roofs on the south side to shield the house from the sun

This is the front entrance to this house, and though you can't see it, this large front patio is enclosed by an adobe wall.  The big windows are in the living and dining rooms, and look north to the Catalina's

 

Tall Timber beamed ceilings, prominent fireplaces, scored concrete floors, and large windows in the living areas for mountain and city views are all indicative of Joesler's work


Above, is an Arizona Room- a porch really, another signature.
AZ rooms were not heated or cooled and often had screened windows for an indoor/outdoor experience, notice the fireplace
behind the plant. This one has been converted to year round living space, it's heated and cooled, and closed off from the outdoors.
I don't think you can tell from these pictures, but all the interior walls are built of thick adobe- these homes are fortresses

This is a bedroom- with a fireplace, wood beamed cathedral ceiling, and stained concrete floors
A kitchen patio with brick flooring,

While many of these homes have been maintained, or carefully updated and renovated over the years, not all of them have been done as carefully and as well as the homes you see here.
I've seen some disasters that are all but unrecognizable as Joesler's, which is very sad if you're a fan of his work.
And then occasionally I'll come across a more or less vintage Joesler that hasn't been touched in decades, and with those, while the
good bones adage is generally true, you also get to see the quirks of a Joesler.
He built these homes as winter retreats for wealthy families, and it was typical for them to have a cook on staff to prepare meals - these people didn't hang out and entertain friends in the kitchen as we do today. Or they would dine out regularly, and so the kitchens in many of these Joesler's are tiny, really tiny - particularly in relation to the size of the home.
Ok, that's understandable, but the closets are also very tiny.
And my vision of that era is of steamer trunks full of clothes with a variety of outfits for every occasion, from lawn tennis to an evening at the symphony. Where'd they put it all.

Nevertheless, Joesler's legacy in Tucson remains without parallel.
70+ years later and his homes remain the prized possessions of their proud owners and a source of inspiration for his followers and imitation by those trying to capitalize on his legacy.
 
I frequently see homes listed for sale that are described as;
'Joesler-esque', 'Joesler inspired', 'a hint of Joesler' or
the clumsy 'Joesler-like-feel'.
And  as this new residential development proclaims-
A Joesler Inspired Neighborhood.  Yeah sure.

For last I've saved the mother of all Joesler's,
Eleven Arches, a.ka. Grace Mansion.
In 1937 Louise N. Grace, heiress to the The Grace Shipping Lines fortune, decided to build a 15,000 sq. ft. house in Tucson, just for herself. It was to be designed by Josias Joesler and built by John Murphey. The story goes, that in order to assure her desire for privacy, John Murphey had her stand on the hilltop where her home was to be built while two workmen walked south carrying poles with pieces of white sheet attached. When she could no longer see the white sheets in the desert, and therefore her privacy assured, that would be the boundary for her land. As a result, Eleven Arches was built on 200 acres of prime Foothills land.
(the information about standing on the hilltop, the workmen and the sheets, comes from an article by Ken Scoville, Privacy in the Catalina Foothills Estates)
This is a picture taken in 2004 from the house, that may approximate what Ms. Grace saw back then - minus all the city lights


The front view of Eleven Arches

Above is the living room of Eleven Arches
In addition to being very wealthy, Ms. Grace was very well connected socially, and Eleven Arches was a popular gathering place for soirees attended by politicians, movie stars, ambassadors and the like.
After Louise Grace died, Eleven Arches changed hands again and again over the years, and with each new owner some of the acreage was sold off and the house slipped further and further into a state of disrepair. Until 1976, when it was purchased for $275,000 along with the approximately 50 acres of remaining land. At that time it was extensively renovated, to the tune of $1,000,000.
And then it sold again in 2000, this time for $2,800,000, with only 19 acres remaining. Someone made a fat profit on that deal.
But this new owner didn't stay very long, because in early 2004 it was again listed for sale, now for $3,490,000, and with just 5 acres of land remaining.
After languishing on the market for more than a year, the property was turned over to an auction house who ended up selling it 2 days before the auction for $2,200,000, now with just 3 acres of land remaining.
If you drive by Eleven arches today, it's hemmed in on all sides by new multi-million $$ homes built on land that used to belong to Eleven Arches, as it cowers in shame at the top of the hill.

**Much of what I've learned about the history of John Murphey, Josias Joesler and the development of the Catalina Foothills, has come from the writings of R. Brooks Jeffery, an invaluable source.
R. Brooks Jeffery is Associate Dean of the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of Arizona and Coordinator of its multi-disciplinary graduate program in Preservation Studies.

see my web site thefoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes

looking for a Joesler in the Tucson Foothills

Josias Joesler is the Swiss born architect, who together with the developer John Murphey, conceived, designed and built the original Catalina Foothills subdivisions in the Tucson Foothills in the 1930's and 40's.
And while the homes that Joesler built are very special and are sought after to this day, it can be difficult to find the ones that are for sale using any of the home search tools available on the internet, including mine.

That's because you can't enter Joesler, or any other architects name as one of your search criteria - like you can the number of bedrooms or baths, square footage, etc.
And the only way that a home is identified as a Joesler in the listing information, is in the agent's MLS remarks, and you can't search those either.

But here's what you can do to narrow down your search and make sure you find all the Joesler's that are for sale.
It's a little tedious, but it works.

-If you're searching from my web site, thefoothillstoday.com click  Custom Search, then
Steps 1 - 3 should all be pre-selected already, but if they're not,
-In step 1, enter- Tucson Region
-Step 2, enter- Greater Tucson Area
-Step 3, enter- North for the city (that's the Foothills)
-For Built Between, enter 1920 to 1960 (though most Joesler's were built between 1930 & 1950, he built a few before & after his prime years.
-Under Property Type, select- Single Family
-You can leave all the other criteria blank.
-Click Search

Using that search today, ten listings are returned. Four of them are Joesler's. In order to pick the Joesler's out of those ten, - here's where it gets tedious- you'll need to open each listing to find what you're looking for. There you can read the MLS remarks where it will say " ...wonderful Joesler..." or "... back in time to this Joesler estate..." or something like that identifying that house as a Joesler. You'll also get the occasional " Joesler-like " which is, according to the agent, sorta like a Joesler, but not. 

For more on Josias Joesler,
Designed by the architect Josias Joesler in 1936, it was set on 12 acres,
Joesler homes & Catalina Foothills on National Register of Historic Places
For Joesler fans
Joesler, popular as ever in Tucson Foothills
built for the desert
A Tucson Classic

and see TheFoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes

it was not just the desert that lured the Marvins, but the house itself. Designed by the architect Josias Joesler in 1936, it was set on 12 acres,

There's a terrific interview in the Sunday Times UK Online edition with Pamela Marvin, widow of Lee Marvin.
Lee Marvin’s widow on her Arizona home and ...
She talks about how she and Lee Marvin discovered and fell in love with the desert and the great old Joesler house they bought in 1975 in the Tucson Foothills.
Now, Pamela 77, is putting the house in the foothills of Tucson, Arizona, where they found both love and peace, on the market for £3m. (it's $6,000,000)
 
See the listing here
This is a one of a kind home. In addition to being a historic Joesler estate in the heart of the old Tucson Foothills, it comes with some real Hollywood glamour, and, it's on the largest residential lot in the old Foothills, 12 acres. Unheard of these days.

See TheFoothillsToday.com
to search for and learn more about Tucson Foothills Homes

Joesler homes & Catalina Foothills on National Register of Historic Places

I just received the fall newsletter of the Catalina Foothills Association where I live, and in it there's an article by Tom Pew with exciting news for Joesler homeowners and admirers of the homes he built in the Catalina Foothills.

"A Win, Win for Joesler Homeowners"
by Tom Pew
   Own a Joesler home? If so you and your neighborhood - in fact the whole Catalina Foothills com­munity, where there is a unique concentration of Josias Tho­mas Joesler designed homes - will soon be coming in for a singular recognition that few buildings and even fewer com­munities ever receive.

In response to continued homeowner interest in preserv­ing the legacy of the Joesler/Murphey vision for the Catalina Foothills and elsewhere, the Pima County Resources and Historic Preservation and the University of Arizona College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture have secured funding and staff to work with property owners towards the goal of making it possible for Joesler home owners to apply for the voluntary inclusion of their homes on the National Register of Historic Places. Furthermore the effort to recognize these buildings and their environs is not limited to the Foothills area, but will be available on a county-wide, indi­vidual-home basis.

As a part of the qualifying and nominating process, homes will have to meet standards that will include, but not be lim­ited to, the character and natural characteristics of the Catalina Foothills, as well as the quality and preservation of the archi­tectural integrity of the home itself and any additions or al­terations that may have been made over the years to the home and the native vegetation.

Joesler home owners who volunteer their property for consideration for inclusion in the Register of Historical Places and who successfully meet the standards and criteria will become eligible for potential benefits of the State Property Tax Reclassification Program for Historic Properties.

The Catalina Foothills Estates "Community of Haciendas" remains a treasured legacy of the visionary work of architect Josias Joesler, and Helen and John Murphey. Here they created a unique sense of place by the careful siting of homes on large lots when land on the outskirts of Tucson seemed limitless.

By doing so they preserved the natural landscape, main­tained views, and built homes with a regionally appropriate design aesthetic reflective of a "Mexican style" community in a rural environment.

In spite of the huge influx of people moving into Tucson since that era a remarkable number of these homes, along with the property around them, have been nurtured and pro­tected by generations of owners who have moved here from elsewhere and grown to love and appreciate the desert, real­izing that the quality and style of Joesler homes-quaint and old-fashioned in some ways-is something worth protecting and valuing for future generations and for the character of the community at large.

Spearheading the effort at the county and professional architectural level are Linda Mayro, Pima County Cultural Resources Manager, and R. Brooks Jeffery, University of Arizona Preservation Studies Coordinator. No newcomers to this effort, Mayro and Jeffery compiled a comprehensive listing of Joesler and Murphey public and private buildings and pub­lished a small but beautiful resource book on this topic in 1994, and, as Jeffery put it this week, "We have been work­ing towards this end ever since- and at last the moment is at hand."

Mayro says, "As for funding, I'm happy to say that we have that rounded up, and both the funding and the staff time are available to complete and produce the multiple nomina­tions that will make the voluntary protection of these unique building possible for now and for the future."

County Supervisor Ann Day, whose district includes the Catalina Foothills, told the newsletter that: "I think it would be a great honor to Tucson's master architect Josias Joesler to place his beautiful homes on the National Register of His­toric Places. Joesler really was responsible for shaping and defining the look and character of the most beautiful area in my district, the Catalina Foothills.

"It's a win-win for a Joesler owner and our community at large: it provides a tax break for the property owners by giv­ing them a reduction in primary property taxes, and it ben­efits our community by providing an incentive to maintain historic buildings in our community," Day concluded.

For Joesler fans

Thank Tucson HOME magazine for a terrific feature article on Josias Joesler in the current issue.  From the magazine;
SWISS-BORN JOSIAS JOESLER’S architectural career in Tucson spanned nearly 30 years, from the time of his arrival in 1927 to work with developers Helen and John Murphey, until his death in 1956. While he designed more than 400 public buildings and residences all over town, Joesler is best known for the gracious homes he created in conjunction with the Murpheys for their Catalina Foothills Estates, a 7,000-plus-acre development set between the Rillito River and the Santa Catalina Mountains.
While many of those Foothills “Joeslers” have been lost to time or overly ambitious remodeling, some still retain their vintage charm. Here are three Joesler-designed residences in which the homeowners have preserved the architect’s distinctive style.
Here's the link to the article, Enjoy!http://www.tucsonhomemagazine.com/features/joesler...(unfortunately, the online version does not contain the photographs shown in the print version of the mag)

Joesler, popular as ever in Tucson Foothills

I'm a big fan of Josias Joesler and the houses and other buildings that he designed and built in the Tucson Foothills. And judging by the number of web searches that I get for Joesler, or Josias Joesler, or Joesler homes, a lot of other people are interested in this little known (except here in Tucson) Swiss born architect.
Given that interest, I thought it worth-while to compile a list of sources of information on Josias Joesler and his work - albeit a short one, since there doesn't seem to be much available.
But I've also included links to the Joesler homes that are currently for sale in the Tucson Foothills and those that have sold in the last few years. Enjoy!

-Josias Joesler: An Architectural Eclectic
written by, R. Brooks Jeffery, Coordinator of Preservation Studies at  the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (CALA) at the University of Arizona. A great source of information on Joesler.
-Northern Pima County - Catalina Foothills
This is from the Northern Pima County Chamber of Commerce and       provides a history of the Tucson Foothills, and how Joesler and his patron John Murphy were a key players in the development of the Tucson Foothills.
-Josias Joesler gave Foothills character
An article from the Arizona Daily Star that discusses the continued popularity of Joesler's homes in the Tucson Foothills.
-St. Philips In The Hills Episcopal Church
The most prominent of Joesler's public buildings it's located at the entrance to the original Catalina Foothills Estates on the northeast corner of River Rd and Campbell Ave.
-Joesler's For Sale
A link to the Tucson MLS showing the 4 Joesler homes that are currently for sale in the Tucson Foothills.
-Joesler's SOLD
A link to the Tucson MLS showing the 18 Joesler homes that have sold in the Tucson Foothills in the last 4 years or so.
**A few of these Joesler homes pop up more than once, having come up for sale a couple of times over the last few years.
**Unless I remember to renew them, the links to the Tucson MLS will expire on 9/10/07.
If they do, contact me for info on Joesler homes currently for sale.
If you know of other good sources of information on Josias Joesler please post it here or email me. I'd appreciate it.

Tucson Foothills 2nd home market, Catalina Foothills Estates

For perspective, I thought it would be a good idea to start this series on 2nd homes in the Tucson Foothills, by looking in the area and at the homes where the second home movement all started back in the 1930's. As I mentioned in the introduction to this series last week- the 2nd home market in the Tucson Foothills -the second home movement in the Tucson Foothills was started back in the 1930's by John Murphey, the founder and developer of the Catalina Foothills Estates, who in partnership with the architect Josias Joesler, set out to create a lifestyle that would be attractive to wealthy midwestern and eastern families seeking a winter refuge in a desert environment.
These homes, many of which have been carefully renovated to provide the comfort and conveniences that we expect today, while maintaining the essence and character of Joesler & Murphey's vision -are large, expensive homes - 5000 to 7500 sq ft or more, priced at $1,500,000 and Up -and so they are within the reach of relatively few homebuyers. And like a vintage Dusenberg, they're tough to find, expensive when you do, and finicky to maintain.
The original Catalina Foothills Estates is ideally located in the center of the Foothills, bordered by Skyline Dr on the north, River Rd on the south, Hacienda del Sol on the east side, and extending to about a third of a mile west of Campbell Ave on its west side.
Here we are cruising north on Campbell Ave from River Rd, which cuts right thru the original Catalina Foothills Estates.

Up here we're going to turn left onto Calle La Vela -
it's one of the best streets in the Old Foothills for large Joesler estates built in the 30's and 40's. I count 9 Joeslers within about a 1/2 mile of this intersection, including the Lee Marvin residence on 12.2 acres.
In the following pictures, you'll see that these homes are very privately located, up on a hill or tucked back and away from the street, behind gates and desert foliage.

Like this one

or this one up on the top of the hill, a really great Joesler

and another is tucked back there on about 4 acres 

Turning north onto Calle Ladero, there's a Joesler behind this entry gate.
Joesler and Murphey's original concept of homes sited on sprawling, hilly lots, surrounded by the beauty and privacy of the natural desert has been somewhat compromised, as many of these estates have been whittled down to a couple of acres, from their original 5 to 15 acre lot sizes. Nonetheless, the acreage that they do occupy is amongst the most desirable in the Foothills today.
In 2002 builders and investors started buying up these large estates and splitting up and subdividing the lots to make way for further development in the Tucson Foothills. There was no other buildable land available that comprised 7, 8 or more contiguous acres , which in turn could be converted into 7 or 8 individual parcels, particularly in the Old Foothills.

Here's a closer look at some of the homes behind the gates and on top of the hill- these pictures are from 4 different Joesler homes

Clay Tile roofs, thick adobe walls, arches, lots of private outdoor areas for recreation and relaxation, all Joesler signatures

Joesler used deep overhanging roofs on the south side to shield the house from the sun

This is the front entrance to this house, and though you can't see it, this large front patio is enclosed by an adobe wall.  The big windows are in the living and dining rooms, and look north to the Catalina mountains
Tall Timber beamed ceilings, prominent fireplaces, scored concrete floors, and large windows in the living areas for mountain and city views are all signatures of Joeslers work


Above, is an Arizona Room- a porch really, another signature.
AZ rooms were not heated or cooled and often had screened windows for an indoor/outdoor experience, notice the fireplace
behind the plant.
This one has been converted to year round living space, it's heated and cooled, and closed off from the outdoors.
I don't think you can tell from these pictures, but all the interior walls are also built of thick adobe- these homes are fortresses

This is a bedroom- with a fireplace, wood beamed cathedral ceiling, and stained concrete floors
A kitchen patio with brick flooring,

While many of these homes have been maintained, or carefully updated and renovated over the years, not all of them have been done as carefully and as well as the homes you see here.
I've seen some disasters that are all but unrecognizable as Joeslers, which is very sad if you're a fan of his work, as I am.
And then occassionally I'll come across a more or less vintage Joesler that hasn't been touched in decades, and with those, while the
good bones adage is generally very accurate, you also get to see the quirks of a Joesler. Joesler built these homes as winter retreats for wealthy families, and it was typical for these families to have a cook on staff to prepare meals - these people didn't hang out and entertain friends in the kitchen - or they would dine out regularly, and so the kitchens in many of these Joeslers are tiny, really tiny - like the stereotypical New York apartment kitchen.
Ok, so that's understandable, but the closets are also very tiny. And my vision of that era is of steamer trunks full of clothes with a variety of outfits for every occassion, from lawn tennis to an evening at the symphony. Where'd they put it all.
Nevertheless, Joesler's legacy in Tucson remains without parallel.
70 years later, and his homes remain the prized possessions of their lucky owners and a source of inspiration, and sometimes imitation,
for his followers.
Trying to capitalize on that legacy, I frequently see homes listed for sale that are described as;
'Joesler-esque', 'Joesler inspired', 'a hint of Joesler' and
the clumsy 'Joesler-like-feel'.
Or as this new residential development that's in the works proclaims-
A Joesler Inspired Neighborhood.

For last I've saved the mother of all Joesler's,
Eleven Arches, a.ka. Grace Mansion.
In 1937 Louise N. Grace, heiress to the The Grace Shipping Lines fortune, decided to build a 15,000 sq. ft. house in Tucson, just for herself. It was to be designed by Josias Joesler and built by John Murphey. The story goes, that in order to assure her desire for privacy, John Murphey had her stand on the hilltop where her home was to be built while two workmen walked south carrying poles with pieces of white sheet attached. When she could no longer see the white sheets in the desert, and therefore her privacy assured, that would be the boundary for her land. As a result, Eleven Arches was built on 200 acres of prime Foothills land.
(the information about standing on the hilltop, the workmen and the sheets, comes from an article by Ken Scoville, Privacy in the Catalina Foothills Estates)

This is a picture taken in 2004 from the house, it approximates what Ms. Grace might have seen back then - minus all the city lights
   

The front view of Eleven Arches

Above is the living room of Eleven Arches
In addition to being very wealthy, Ms. Grace was very well connected socially, and Eleven Arches was a popular gathering place for soirees attended by politicians, movie stars, ambassadors and the like.
After Louise Grace died, Eleven Arches changed hands again and again over the years, and with each new owner some of the acreage was sold off and the house slipped further and further into a state of disrepair. Until 1976, when it was purchased for $275,000 along with the approximately 50 acres of remaining land. At that time it was extensively renovated, to the tune of $1,000,000.
And then it sold again in 2000, this time for $2,800,000, with only 19 acres remaining. Someone made a fat profit on that deal.
But this new owner didn't stay very long, because in early 2004 it was again listed for sale, now for $3,490,000, and with just 5 acres of land remaining.
After languishing on the market for more than a year, the property was turned over to an auction house who ended up selling it 2 days before the auction for $2,200,000, now with just 3 acres of land remaining.
If you drive by Eleven arches today, it's hemmed in on all sides by new $1,000,000 homes built on land that used to belong to Eleven Arches, as it cowers in shame at the top of the hill.

built for the desert

In an earlier post about Josias Joesler - A Tucson Classic - I mentioned that he designed and built desert homes that are at home in the desert. He worked in Tucson back in the 30's, 40's and 50's when air conditioning was either nonexistent or in it's infancy, so it was vitally important to build homes that were in harmony with the desert environment. And although we now have very sophisticated heating and cooling systems available, in order to enjoy desert living to it's fullest there are a few key elements of home design that should be considered. The summer sun is blisteringly hot in the desert and having a home that is designed and oriented to shield you from that hot sun is very important.
Here are a few basic things to keep in mind when you're searching for your desert home;
Orientation- Ideally a Tucson home should have what we call a north/south orientation. A north/south orientation means that the long sides of the house, generally the front and back, face north and south. So for example, the back of the house and the backyard faces north, and the front of the house faces south. Or vice-a-versa. Either way it's a north/south orientation, which protects you from the rising sun, and more importantly, from the late afternoon sun, which is hotter than you can imagine in the summer. With a north/south orientation the smallest/narrowest parts of the house get the direct hit from the morning and afternoon sun- you have light but no direct sun blazing in the windows. With an east/west orientation, you get the rising sun in the morning and the late afternoon sun hitting the longest, broadest, biggest sides of your house, and shining directly in all the windows. So of course your house gets much hotter and your AC has to work it's hardest to keep the place cool, which it may or may not be able to do. And with an east/west orientation, you'll probably have to cover your windows in the morning to keep the sun out, but you will definitely have to cover them in the afternoon to block out the blazing summer sun. So you'll be shut in to virtually windowless rooms until the sun sets, and that's at about 7:45 in the summer. And if your backyard or patio faces west, forget about sitting out there in the late afternoon during the summer, it's just too hot. A north/south orientation is the most important feature of a desert home. Besides, in the Foothills the mountain views are to the north and the city views to the south. If you get the orientation right, everything else is icing on the cake.
Covered porches, patios- It's great to have a covered porch or patio so that you can sit outside, out of the sun and enjoy Tucson's great weather, and have lunch or dinner outdoors, at any time of year. Having covered outdoor space is a key feature for being able to enjoy the Tucson lifestyle. On the south side of the house a covered porch or patio will also keep the sun off the exterior walls of the house, which will keep it cooler, and you'll have that shady area to relax out of the sun all day long.
Windows- Windows on the west side of the house are a no-no in the desert because of that blazing afternoon sun. If your house has an east/west orientation you're going to have windows on the west side, because that's either the front, or worse yet, the back of your house. Great big expanses of windows are great for the views but when it's 110 outside they allow a lot of heat to penetrate the house. Make sure that the windows are double pane low e glass. And windows that are recessed 6 to 8 inches or more from the exterior of the house keep the daytime summer sun from shining into the south side of the house.
Type of Construction- Back when Joesler was building homes in Tucson, he used adobe or brick or some other masonry material because it is more substantial and it does a much better job of insulating the house from the heat. Many of the homes that I show to clients during the summer are vacant, because many of the homes here in the Tucson Foothills are second homes, and the owners are back in Chicago or Columbus for the summer. When it's 100 degrees outside and we walk into a vacant (the AC is turned off) frame stucco built house, it's 115 in the house. 20 minutes later when we walk into a vacant masonry built house, but particularly one built of adobe, it's 80 to 85 degrees in the house, with no AC.
Masonry construction, particularly adobe, or straw bale (though straw bale is rare in Tucson) works very well as a thermal barrier, keeping the interior cooler than the temperature outside, with no AC. Our first house here in Tucson was a beautiful newer frame stucco built house with some west facing windows. We sold it, and recently moved to a classic Tucson adobe built home, with a perfect north/south orientation and a covered porch on the entire south side of the house. Last month the weather gurus were predicting a string of days with temperatures in the low 90's, the low 90's in March is somewhat unusual. So based on our experience in our old frame stucco house, we figured we'd have to turn on the AC. Never happened. The tempeature did hit the low 90's for a few days, but inside the house, it was about 74 degrees. Adobe, ahhh! 

A Tucson Classic

Though both are deceased, Tucson's favorite architect, Josias Joesler, and Lee Marvin one of Tucson's more famous former residents, are together in one magnificent residence. The Marvin Residence, the stunning 12.2 acre Joesler estate of the late actor Lee Marvin was recently put up for sale. According to the property information in the listing; "Located in the ''Old Foothills'',this stuccoed mud adobe treasure built around a courtyard w/massive fountain offers 7,400 historic square feet,full guest house,tennis court,pool,city/mtn views,patios,walkways,mission tile porches w/chinked mortar,scored concrete floors,high beamed & planked ceilings,blacksmith-made wrought iron light fixtures,curtain rods, door handles designed by Mr. Marvin. Privacy, character & provenance".

Joesler's legacy of building substantial homes of timeless character and style and his devotion to building desert homes that are at home in the desert, is nowhere more evident than in this magnificent estate. Joesler's (as we call them here in Tucson) don't come along too often, and the Marvin Residence, the largest of the Joesler's that I've seen come to market, both in the size of the house and the land, is sure to fuel what has been a growing interest in these classic Tucson homes.
The story that I've heard is that Lee Marvin loved Tucson, and in 1975 while he was in Africa filming a movie he heard about this house coming up for sale. I don't know what he paid for it back then, but the list price today is $6,000,000. And by the way, this is not my listing, I'm just a big fan of Joesler and the homes he built in the Foothills, and Lee Marvin has always been one of my absolute favorite actors.
The listing agent is Rusell Long of Long Realty.
Here are a few pictures from the listing in the MLS.

More on, Joesler's in Tucson

Last week I did a piece about Josias Joesler, Tucson's 'Most Recoginzed Architect'.
I just came across two articles that add some dimension to that piece.
The first is from the Arizona Daily Star that offers a comtemporary take on Joesler and the homes and communities he built in the Tucson Foothills along with his patrons John and Helen Murphey.
(It covers all of what I wrote and expands on it)
Josias Joesler gave Foothills character
The architect left a big imprint on Tucson; now his work is being imitated.
Read it Here

The other is an interview with Pamela Marvin, widow of Lee Marvin, one of my all-time favorite actors and former Tucson resident. Pamela Marvin still lives in their home in the Tucson foothills, as far as I know.
-from the interview
In 1975, the Marvins moved to Tucson. While on location in Africa on a movie, they heard about and bought a house in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains that was designed by famed architect Josias Joesler.
"Lee was very, very fond of Tucson," she said. "He loved it even in the summer!"
Marvin in Love
An interview with Pamela Marvin-Read it Here

 

Joeslers' in Tucson

'When asked to name Tucson's most recognized architect, the first name that comes to most people's minds is Josias Joesler.'
From Josias Joesler:an Architectural Eclectic

If I had to pick my favorite architect, builder and style of home in Tucson, my answer to all three would be the same - Joesler. From the 1920's to the 50's Josias Joesler built homes in Tucson that not only endure to this day but are the prized possession of their lucky owners, and coveted by many others.
While Joesler built homes, churches and other public buildings throughout Tucson, I'm most familiar with the homes that he built in the Catalina Foothills Estates area. This area, bordered by Skyline Dr on the north, River Rd on the south and bisected by Campbell Ave is prime Joesler turf.
Many of these homes, originally built as winter residences for wealthy easterners, have been carefully renovated and now serve as full or part time homes for a lucky few.
Rich in architectural style and detail, Joesler also knew how to build a home that was at home in the desert. He used thick adobe walls, clay tile roofs with wide over-hangs and deeply set windows. His homes were sited to capture the views, offer shaded outdoor living areas and maximize protection from the sun.
Not without their idiosyncrasies, Joeslers’ are non-the-less much admired for their timeless architecture and great bones.
When you enter a Joesler, you feel that it was built to withstand time, not just as in durable and 'built to last', but in the sense that the style will endure and never be out of style.