Home above is currently for sale. Listing HERE.
The spring Arcadia neighborhood tour is finally here, and oh what a charmfest do I have for you today, my friends! In case you’re new around here, there is nothing, nothing that brings me greater joy on this blog of ours than sharing our little slice of heaven on earth here in Phoenix and injecting a little happy into your day by way of these virtual tours of our neighborhood, appropriately called Arcadia Phoenix.
Home on left/1st below by Rafterhouse
Home on right/2nd below by Rafterhouse
I’m officially (unofficially? Not sure anyone cares what I call one of these tours, but I digress) dubbing today’s spring tour the Tour de Flowers because as I was snapping away at sunrise and sunset when the ‘hood is at its most stunning, I realized that my camera was like a magnet to any and all homes with wow-worthy flower displays. Of which there were many because that’s what Arcadia Phoenix does best in the spring. It blooms and it blooms big – from bougainvillea of all shades to oleander, roses, jasmine, snapdragons, lavender and beyond, it spring gives the neighborhood a particularly stunning show! In fact, there were too many flower-covered abodes to properly capture in the amount of time I was able to dedicate to the tour this time around before the blooms started fading. This is just a tiny taste! Of course, we’ve shown you guys many a flower-lined walkway before, but I feel like the flower force is especially strong in this one and that’s of course due to the fact that these amazing Arcadia homeowners (and landscape architecture teams) pretty much went all out this spring with the creative, colorful floral feels. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if I could go around and hug every single one of these homeowners I would! I’m not privy to what delights await us all behind all of these front doors (For good reason. That would be super weird), but the endless creativity and care with which these Arcadia homeowners dive into their home’s exterior character never ceases to amaze me. Driving around Arcadia for the better part of two months capturing these charming beauties had me wearing a perma smile throughout this otherwise incredibly strange, challenging time.
In past Arcadia neighborhood tour posts, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve captured and included many of the same homes several times, in different seasons, and that’s because a) They’re just so darn lovable and b) These homes always change so much from season to season depending on what’s happenin’, giving them a new look to appreciate. Whether it’s citrus season, rose season, oleander season or a holiday dec fest, it never gets old or stale. And while I still included some old favorites with fresh new looks in this spring’s tour because I just couldn’t not include them, I wanted to expand our horizons a little bit and capture some homes that I haven’t shown here before so you can peep the variety of charm we’re privy to around here. The charm runs deep in this neighborhood, friends and the variety and creativity with which Arcadia’s inhabitants and home builders make these houses homes is part of what makes this place so special.
Home on right/2nd below by Arcadia Builders
And for those of you new to these fun little virtual Arcadia neighborhood tours or the neighborhood in general, I’ll recap really quickly like I always do to make sure everyone who’s here today is in the loop. More and more over the last decade, it seems like just about every home style is represented in the neighborhood in the most enchanting way, from ranch to craftsman, contemporary craftsman, farmhouse, mid-century modern, just plain modern, Georgian, traditional, Southwest, tudor, cottage, adobe revival, Mediterranean, mountain, French and more. It’s an eclectic little corner of the world on the home design front, which is one of the things that makes the neighborhood such a cool slice of this otherwise stucco-drenched desert city. Unique, thoughtful, personal home design is a passion in this neighborhood and something that so many of its inhabitants and the builders that showcase their work here take a lot of pride in. It’s one of the threads that binds this community and it just makes my heart so happy, in case you didn’t notice!
Home on right/2nd below is currently for sale. Listing HERE.
That said, one standout sort of “signature” Arcadia Phoenix home style that you can spot dotting just about every street in the neighborhood is what I think some call “contemporary” craftsman. But for visualization purposes, I’d describe it as more of a ranch-cottage-farmhouse-contemporary-craftsman-california-casual mashup style all its own. Translation? You’ll see sprawling ranch homes with a lot of (typically white) board and batten mixed with (also typically white) brick, cozy wood shake or rustic metal roofs, fun, colorful front doors and shutters, cool farmhouse exterior light fixtures, adorable, cottage-like front gates that reveal charming, flower-lined walkways behind them, an emphasis on creative, fun, functional outdoor living spaces and garage doors with personalities all their own. And then there’s the endless blooms… towering tunnels of oleanders that line streets and separate property lines, garage doors framed by brilliant, cascading bougainvillea and fences draped in pillowy pink and white roses. The neighborhood’s name makes a lot of sense now, doesn’t it? It certainly does a bang up job of living up to it!
I’m completely comfortable being a totally unabashed Arcadia fangirl and professional appreciator whenever I have the opportunity, but I know that a lot of you have heard me gab at length about the neighborhood’s charms, it’s rich history and the amazing builders, architects and homeowners that have made this idyllic pocket of Phoenix such an enchanting place to live, but for the sake of not making you all nauseas, I’ll spare you the chatter and let the snaps speak for themselves on this tour! That said, for those of you reading that count today as your first time hopping on the virtual Arcadia neighborhood tour train here on Love & Specs, there are two previous tours and a holiday tour of the neighborhood for you to check out that all include fun facts and info about the ‘hood as well as the names of and links to some of the neighborhood’s favorite design minds/builders in case you’re curious of even better, are thinking about joining us here in paradise! Those posts are linked below with descriptions about what can be found in each them (in addition to pretty snaps of the homes) so you can find what you’re looking for.
Our Previous Arcadia Phoenix, AZ Neighborhood Home Tours
Arcadia Neighborhood Tour #1 (Arcadia History, Home Design Style, List of Favorite Arcadia Builders)
Arcadia Neighborhood Tour #2 (Spring Flowers, Expanded List of Favorite Arcadia Builders)
Arcadia Neighborhood Holiday Tour (Holiday Decorations)
I get a lot of emails from awesome Love + Specs readers all over the country who are either considering a move to Arcadia or looking for Arcadia-style design inspiration or consultation where they live, so I wanted to put the list of Arcadia builders we love below so you can have easy access to the contact info and portfolios you’re looking for! But as always, don’t hesitate for one second to email me if you’re looking for some amazing design/build/architecture/landscaping or real estate agent recommendations for the neighborhood. I absolutely love talking about the folks that work so hard to make this neighborhood such a magical place to live and visit and will happily pass along all of the info I have or connect you straight to the source!
You’ve also probably noticed that this time around I’m trying to attribute the builders of the homes featured wherever I can, but as you can probably imagine it’s a little bit tough to track for a lot of these. So, I would absolutely LOVE for you guys to comment below if you know the builders, architects, designers, landscape architects or any other creative geniuses that had a hand in dreaming any of these up because I get a lot of questions about that and would love to provide answers so these folks get credit where credit is due!
Arcadia Phoenix AZ Builders We Love:
Home on right/2nd below by Rafterhouse
Home on left/1st below by Bent Nails
I hope you guys enjoyed this spring’s bloom-tactic Arcadia neighborhood tour as much as I did, and can’t wait hear which homes and design elements speak to you guys this time around. I love hearing what inspired you most from these tours and what secured a spot on your “dream home” vision/Pinterest boards. Happy touring!
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