Storied ‘extreme mountain’ architect takes to flat land

By Philip Haldiman
Mail | X: @PhilipHaldiman

A Paradise Valley home designed by visionary architect Gerry Jones has made its way to the market.

The residence, built in 2014, is somewhat unique in the Jones cannon — it’s not nestled between boulders or along rugged mountainsides or any other hard-to-navigate landscape. The architect known as the “Dean of Rock Engineering” made a parcel in the southeast part of town his canvass — on none other than flat land.

Jones is now in his late 90s and known for building around existing desert and boulders, as well as creating the town of Carefree’s original architectural guidelines and laying down its unique character.

The 10,380-square-foot, five bedroom, eight bathroom estate on almost 3 acres, located at 5721 N. Casa Blanca Drive, was built as a “complete one of a kind,” said Paradise Valley luxury real estate expert Joan Levinson, who listed the property.

Its price tag is $15.9 million.

Jones is considered a pioneer in “extreme mountain architecture,” and Joan sees the Casa Blanca home as a “capstone” to his long and distinguished career.

“He is all about working with and building around rocks, mountains, sun and shadows. He is known to be exceptional at siting properties to maximize views and efficiency,” Joan said.

In the Paradise Valley home, Jones focused on the latter, particularly the view of Camelback Mountain.

Adam Levinson, Joan’s son and longtime general manager, said Jones is all about the siting of properties so that you have a beautiful view no matter which direction you look.

“In this case, the home was designed to look straight to the camel,” Adam said. “You can see Praying Monk, and the home is completely centered on the camel.”

The two stories of the home can be accessed either by elevator or stairs. Amenities include his-and-hers offices, butler’s pantry, quatrefoil wine cellar, a trail that encompasses the property, and a pool area that transitions to natural Sonoran Desert at the property line.

Berghoff Design Group of Scottsdale did the landscape design.

The home was built with materials that are strong and long lasting, with sand-blasted concrete, Douglas Fir beams, redwood ceilings and anodized bronze on the roof and fascia. This was done to ensure the home lasts 150 years without restoration.

Jones designed the home for the family of his stepson Fife Symington IV, son of the former Arizona governor. Jones raised Symington IV since the boy was young.

Owner Marci Symington, wife of Symington IV, said it was always a dream of theirs to have Jones design a home for them, but now feels they were a bit naive to think they would live there forever.

“We didn’t talk about this being a multi-generational home. We were more interested in having a home designed by Gerry,” she said. “The kids grow up, they move away, and suddenly we had this beautiful estate that was far from much of our family.”

‘Dean of Rock Engineering'

Jones has a storied history in Arizona.

He was a friend of Frank Lloyd Wright, and spent many years at Taliesin West teaching “extreme mountain architecture,” which respects and incorporates the natural surroundings.

Jones had a longtime partnership with the founders of Carefree, K.T. Palmer and Tom Darlington, and is deeply connected to the town.

Carefree was designed and established as a master-planned community in the mid-1950s, long before it became an incorporated town in 1984.

Jones wrote its original architectural guidelines and the Maricopa County Hillside ordinance.

He did the land planning for the original 1,400 acres of Carefree, laid out the roads and configured the lots.

Jones is credited with building the first home in Carefree in 1959, the DeMille house, on Bloody Basin Road, as well as the second home.

Jones spoke at a Cave Creek Carefree Realtor Tour in 2020, sharing that he designed and built around 140 homes in the town, and built well over a total of 300 homes.

“Perhaps the real truth was that I was the only architectural designer naive enough to come 30 miles over a dirt track to design luxury homes 65 years ago,” he said.

Jones also spoke of his celebrity clients which included Hugh Downs, former host of the "Today" show and "20/20"; and Paul Harvey, iconic radio broadcaster for ABC Radio Networks, who often broadcast nationwide from his in-home sound studio, specifically designed for him by Jones.

Part of Jones’ lore came in his design of the Ross and Phoebe Slingman House in Carefree in the early 1970s, an acclaimed, “fortress-like” home known for being built across a boulder-filled canyon at the base of Black Mountain.

The home became even more famous in 1974 when actor and director Orson Welles leased the house and invited film director John Huston to be his house guest.

Welles signed a strict lease that stated no filming or photography of any kind were allowed. The owners were out of town during the lease period, but Jones agreed to keep an eye on the property.

Within weeks, Jones said he observed lighting equipment on the patios, and the owners quickly evicted Welles for violating the lease.

Jones claims that when he and the owner walked the home after the film crew left, they found a car smashed through the front wall of the guest house, scraps of ham and eggs on the beds amid “obvious signs” of pornographic film production, and priceless antiques and family heirlooms floating in the swimming pool, among them an “exquisite” Louis XIV leather in-laid writing desk.

He claims it was one disaster after another, culminating with the discovery of several pairs of Welles’ oversized underwear, 68” waist.

“Those of you who will remember Orson will remember that he was extremely obese in his later years,” Jones said.

The Slingmans worked hard to get the home back in order and it was soon hard to recall the damage, Jones said.

“We never forgot Mr. Welles though,” he said. “Each year on the anniversary of his eviction Ross ran a pair of Orson’s gargantuan draws up the flag pole while we enjoyed a bottle of wine.

Senior News Editor Philip Haldiman can be reached at phaldiman@iniusa.org, or on X @philiphaldiman. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@inusua.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Philip Haldiman
Senior News Editor | Peoria

phaldiman@iniusa.org

Meet Philip
Haldiman is an award-winning journalist who most recently took first place for investigative reporting in 2023 from Arizona Newspapers Association. He joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2015, covering Sun City West his first year. Since 2016, he has covered the city of Peoria. Prior to coming to INI, he was a reporter with The Arizona Republic for seven years, covering numerous cities throughout the Valley. Before that, he was a freelance writer.

Community: Haldiman spearheads the Peoria Independent Hometown Heroes Awards program, honoring local individuals and businesses that give back to the community. He has hosted local candidate forums over the years and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. Haldiman also served as a member of the Journalism Program Community Advisory Board at Glendale Community College. Outside journalism, Haldiman served as a member of the city of Peoria Complete Count Committee for the Census, 2019-2020. Lastly, he has served as a member of his HOA governing board since 2021.

Education: Arizona State University with a BA in Journalism and Mass Communications and a BA in Theater. 

Random Fact: Haldiman is a fourth-generation Arizonan as well as wrote and produced an autobiographical comic book about his time spent in Hollywood and his life as a cult film star.

Hobbies: He enjoys hiking Arizona’s mountainous landscapes and is currently working on a play for the stage.