No. 16
summer 2012
Golden Legacy Illustrious Additions to Walt Disney World Resort
raising the stakes gertler & wente architecture llp / regional focus: majestic homes of aspen, co
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builders
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De Tar Construction A custom company built on small-town friendships by Amy Howell Hirt On Joel DeTar’s website, there are plenty of comments that attest to his skills as a custom builder. Satisfied customers applaud his attention to detail, professionalism and craftsmanship. But just as many offer unexpected words of gratitude, thanking him for his “warm personal friendship.” In the small towns of Sedona and neighboring Cottonwood, AZ, DeTar has had a hand in many of the custom homes constructed, but also in making sure a local food bank has enough resources for holiday meals and that a youth soccer team has a shot at the championship. Since moving to the area from Detroit in 1973, DeTar has become embedded in the community - volunteering with local foundations and building true friendships that support his 31-year-old business. DeTar has never needed to build outside the local area--which is home to about 25,000--or to invest in advertising. New business comes strictly through referrals, and most of his new friendships evolve from satisfied clients, DeTar says.
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“That’s my favorite part of the job,” he says. “The vast majority of my friends are people I’ve built for in the past.”
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photos: Gene Sasse
Although DeTar builds homes that span from traditional Craftsman styles to curving contemporary creations, he works with the same architectural firm – Design Group Architects – on many of them, and often uses the same contractors. The goal is to pump dollars back into the local community, but DeTar has found that this sense of hometown responsibility also means the work will be on time and high quality.
SUMMER 2012
builders
The Gelb Residence
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The 3,100-square-foot home by Design Group Architects (www.designgrouparchitects.net) is built on a steep, restrictive site at the top of a red rock canyon. Custom work by local artisans, including a curving leather couch by Design Group Architects, a walnut coffee table in the living room by Mike Bartell (www.mikebartell.com), a copper backsplash and range hood by metalworker David Platt (www.3dogstudio.com) and heating-return grills by Les Palmer with Stone Ascension mimic the rugged shapes, terracotta-colored soil, rust-hued buttes and riparian vegetation of the setting. Beyond the stone and stucco exterior, natural materials continue throughout the house, from flagstone floors and custom milled maple ceilings to marble countertops. But the star of the home is a reinforced glass floor in the dining room, which extends three-to 12-feet above the natural ravine. This unexpected drama below is accentuated by the organic energy of a blown glass chandelier by Newt Grover (www.newtglass.com).
As in any tight knit community, there’s not much room for misunderstandings or unsatisfied customers, and DeTar goes to great lengths to deliver a fair price and peace of mind, practicing an “open book” policy with clients. “I have a fiduciary responsibility [to them],” he says. “They know exactly what the costs are and what I’m making.” Although all the homes DeTar builds are local, their inspirations often are far flung, and DeTar is happy to go the distance to understand what a client wants – like traveling to Pasadena, CA, to see the Gamble House. The client, a California native, wanted his home modeled off this landmark of American Arts and Crafts-style architecture. For another client--a retired mathematics professor with an interest in the never ending nature of the Fibonacci principle--DeTar and Design Group Architects created a curving, 4,500-square-foot home that’s designed around 13 different radius points. Despite the diversity of local home designs, DeTar says nearly all clients want to take full advantage of their home sites, located in the heart of Red Rock Country. “It’s a gorgeous place to live, and everyone wants to maintain their vistas,” DeTar says. Liberal amounts of casing free windows and bump outs surround homeowners with views of sunkissed peaks, and the homes themselves seem to grow from the grounds.
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A ground hugging Santa Fe-style home in Seven Canyons incorporates “Anasazi-style” rock walls near the perimeter of the property that bring an archaeological feel to the site. Another home, the Gelb residence, is situated at the head of a tight canyon and embraces the surroundings that envelope it. The curving walls are freeform and unsymmetrical and the four to five ton boulders surrounding it were reclaimed from the site and situated to give the illusion that the home is literally emerging from the earth. “It was interesting having a crane out there swinging these big rocks over the house,” DeTar says. DeTar says here, on-site and in the trenches, is where he’s always been the most comfortable – whether coaching a soccer team, helping local nonprofits or running his business.
01 The living area offers shades of orange and brown, which provide a relaxing quality and pull inspiration from the surrounding landscape and beautiful mountain vistas 02 The modern kitchen with marble, wood and stone finishes offers ample space for cooking while entertaining 03 Glass is the focal point for this dining area, which offers views of the mountain tops ahead and the tree tops below
“I conduct the orchestra and they produce the work,” he says. “Then we let our work speak for itself.”
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