A decades-old, black-and-white print advertisement, complete with a vintage-scrolly font reads “Casa Blanca, Near Majestic Camelback Mountain – A Desert Paradise Where Summer Spends the Winter”.
The Casa Blanca in question—an iconic Moroccan-inspired construction in Arizona’s Paradise Valley —pre-dates the Oscar-winning, Morocco-set Casablanca (1944) by some stretch. Built in the 1920s by architect R.T. (Bob) Evans, the script for this Casa Blanca meanders through a fascinating past and present.
Two years ago, Phoenix-based Haute House Design and Interior's Jessica Ellingford and Jasmine Gray purchased one of the enclave’s townhomes with full intention to renovate, remodel and sell. This 2,125 square foot fully redesigned home is now on the market and creating quite a stir, listed for $3.25 million by agents Jennifer Burgess and Siena Koppelman of RETSY.
“Buyers’ agents have consistently told us that in all their years of selling homes in the Casa Blanca development, no one has taken a remodel to the level of this listing,” says Burgess.
The design duo hired architect Lab Design Collaborative to gut outdated areas like the galley kitchen, open up closed-off spaces and maintain the integrity of the Moroccan-Mediterranean style as created by the gated community’s original architect.
In the case of Casa Blanca, the original gate, with its "White City" whitewashed walls and domes, is somewhat of a landmark in Paradise Valley, proudly marking the entry into this storied property.
Approaching the grounds, you notice rose and cactus gardens lovingly tended by professional landscapers, three heated swimming pools, plus tennis and pickleball courts—amenities you’d expect at a resort. All set against the dramatic tableau of Camelback Mountain.
Read the full story: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbes-global-properties/2025/06/04/playing-casa-blanca-again-at-a-reinvented-riad-style-retreat-in-arizona/
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