Building in North Scottsdale's gated communities

Our work here is in Mirabel. Mirabel Aniko is a full interior remodel by 12 West. Desert Haven, a new build in the same community, was published in Luxe Interiors + Design and Phoenix Home & Garden. To be precise about it: Nick Collier led construction on Desert Haven as partner and superintendent before founding 12 West Custom Homes. It is his work, not a 12 West delivery, and we show it that way.

Mirabel, Silverleaf, and Desert Mountain

These communities have a lot in common: gates, golf, big desert lots, and a design review process that every new home and most exterior remodels must pass.

• Mirabel covers 713 acres with 335 home sites, gated with 24-hour security, around a Tom Fazio golf course. It publishes its own custom home design guidelines.
• Silverleaf sits within DC Ranch. New homes go through the DC Ranch Covenant Commission in stages: massing, preliminary, and final review, then preconstruction documents, under published builder and construction guidelines.
• Desert Mountain was established in 1986 on about 8,300 acres. Its Architectural Review Committee reviews all new homes and exterior remodels, and owners work with the association's consulting architect from pre-design through approval.

Each process has its own submittals, timelines, and construction rules: site access, work hours, staging, signage, and how the lot is protected during the build. None of it is hard if you plan for it. All of it costs time if you do not.

We read the guidelines before we price, not after. Design guidelines can govern height, roof forms, colors, glass, and exterior lighting, and every one of those changes the cost of the house. A builder who quotes from a square-foot average has not read them yet.

The desert has rules

Much of North Scottsdale falls under the city's Environmentally Sensitive Lands ordinance, which covers about 134 square miles of desert and mountain land. Part of every property has to be kept as permanent natural area open space, and the share rises with slope and landform: on flatter lower-desert land it starts around 20 percent, and on steep hillside land it can reach 80 percent. Washes, ridges, and peaks are protected.

In practice the building envelope is smaller than the lot, native plants have to be protected or salvaged, and grading is limited. Good North Scottsdale homes treat those limits as the design brief. They sit low, follow the land, and frame the views without scarring the hillside. The build itself takes the same care: natural areas fenced off, native plants protected, and staging kept inside the approved disturbance area.

Why the builder should be in early

With two layers of review, design decisions get locked in early. If the builder sees the plans only after the community has approved them, any change to control cost may mean going back through review. We get in with your architect and designer while the drawings are still conceptual, so the budget, the design guidelines, and the ESL limits are all worked out together. We wrote about why in why your builder should meet your architect before the drawings are done.

How we work

Both owners are on every project. Nick leads construction and is on site multiple times a week. Christina runs operations and walks the jobs. A superintendent runs the day to day with trades we have worked with for years. We take a handful of homes a year so both owners can stay on every one. If you have a lot or a home in one of these communities, start a conversation.