Residential Walk-Through

Southwest Versatility

Scottsdale, Arizona | Marieann Green, ASID, IIDA | Scottsdale, Arizona

BY NORA BURBA TRULSSON

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DINO TONN

In the great room, leather, wood and iron come together to create a comfortable setting.

Interior designer Marieann Green likes to give her residential clients what they want: a home that reflects their taste, lifestyle and comfort level. When she recently designed a home specifically for a bachelor, little did she realize that the home would have a much broader appeal.

In 2003, Green was asked to create an appealing interior for a single man who was building a 6,500-square-foot adobe-style residence on a golf course in north Scottsdale. "The house was in the framing stage," explains Green, "so I was able to specify interior finishes, millwork and fixtures." The client, an entrepreneur, wanted a Southwestern, rustic and relaxed look for his four-bedroom home, a place where he could entertain friends. "He did not," says Green emphatically, "want anything fussy."

A carved wood Indian chest is used as the vanity for the power room.

Playing off the home's vigas, curved walls and stone accents, Green suggested flagstone flooring throughout much of the three-level house, clear alder cabinetry of her design for the kitchen, coupled with granite and butcher block countertops, plus wrought-iron details for lighting and drapery rods. She specified a mix of deep leather seating ("The client is big man and he wanted to be comfortable"), stone, wood and iron furnishings and a sprinkling of antiques. Green worked with a neutral palette, sparked with vibrant reds in area rugs and accessory pillows.

In the main-level great room, Green angled two A. Rudin leather sofas from Dean-Warren, Ltd. of Scottsdale around an antique Guatemalan door crafted into a coffee table that she and the client found at Dos Gallos during a shopping trip to Los Angeles. Persian rugs from Aga John of Scottsdale define the seating area. The adjacent dining area features overscale chairs with backs angled for comfort set around a stone-topped table by Michael Taylor. A third-level game room—"a real guy's room"—includes a leather-topped card table from Dean-Warren, Ltd., three televisions and suede draperies to darken the room from the bright desert sun.

A. Rudin leather sofas and a coffee table made from an antique door combine for a rustic look in the home's great room.

The powder room afforded Green the opportunity to create a gem of a small space. She used a carved-wood Indian chest as the vanity, topped with a stone vessel sink, and had a mirror framed with architectural fragments. Her efforts there won her a First Place award in the category of Single Space from the 2003 Arizona North Chapter ASID design competition.

Green detailed the home's interior with accessories she and the client picked up during numerous shopping treks around Scottsdale and in Los Angeles. "The accessories came from all over the place," says Green, "but their origins are Mexico, Central America and South America."

Clear alder cabinetry adds warmth to the kitchen.

While the client loved the results, a wedding ensued and he sold his bachelor pad, complete with furnishings, some two years later. An out-of-state couple with four young children bought the house as a vacation retreat. "They called me to help them tweak a few things," says Green, "and the house morphed into a family home. Everything looked the same, but the garage was filled with toys." Not long ago, the house was sold again—with furnishings—this time to a retired couple, empty nesters.

"I haven't heard from them—yet," says Green with a smile. "But I really believe that houses, and furniture, should be versatile."

Interior design: Marieann Green Interior Design, Inc., Scottsdale, AZ; (480) 473-1122 or www.marieanngreeninteriordesign.com.

Builder: Walls Custom Homes, Inc., Carefree, AZ; (602) 509-8838.

The dining room is anchored by a Michael Taylor table.