Wackerley
Project Description
This is the highest home in the Catalina Foothills at an elevation of 3,860 feet, and was originally built in 1975 by a prominent Tucson sculptor. The modern home of colored split face block & glass peeks through a saddle in the mountains high above Ventana Canyon Resort. When originally built, Ventana Canyon didn't exist. In fact there were only a few buildings North of Sunrise and east of Kolb. It was all natural Sonoran desert. LJ McCreary recalls looking up at the house when he began building in 1988 thinking"man I'd sure like to go up and see that house sometime". When one of his former clients approached him and said they were thinking about purchasing and renovating this architecturally significant home, LJ's wish came true. Michael Franks of Seaver / Franks Architects began the plans for an extensive renovation.
Extensive wasn't the word for it….2 years and $1.8 million dollars later…. created an architecturally sensitive renovation and addition that the owners are absolutely thrilled with. The owner's primary concern was to maintain the architectural sense that the home was "of the mountain". He also wanted the original owner to like what we were doing. The home was a sculpture in and of itself.
The building site was challenging. Concrete trucks could only be filled up ½ way in
order to make it up the steep twisting driveway, split face blocks had to be individually
hand carried around the opposite side of the existing home and slid down a wooden shoot
one at time to build a 36 foot tall 3 story staircase. Foundations were anchored with steel
re-bar drilled and epoxy set directly into bedrock. A 22 foot high negative edge pool
retaining wall was built in similar fashion. The roof was removed as well as all interior
walls. The lower floor level was lowered 3 feet into the existing bedrock. Everything
was removed except the exterior walls, and then we started working on those, cutting in
openings and shoring up for large panes of glass. A natural rock face that cascaded
through 2 stories of the original home was hydraulically hammered out and removed. A
steel bridge with custom glass side panels was built to access guest bedrooms on the
upper floor. Because the home was anchored directly to the bedrock; a drainage system
was installed beneath the lower floor so the mountain could drain as water came up
through fissures in the rock. All in all it was a total transformation of the flow and
feeling of the interior space while maintaining the architectural integrity and significance
of the exterior.
(520) 240-7200
info@mccrearyhomes.com7049 E. Tanque Verde Rd. #25
Tucson Arizona 85715