Did you know?????????

When we say Sun City is unique, there's about a hundred directions we could go in. Just for the nuts of it I had been searching Sun City properties on Zillow and came across one that was pretty aggressively priced. At $444,000 and 3820 square feet and only 2 bedrooms, I had to get to the bottom of it. It took one look of scrolling through the pictures to understand why...it is one of those truly different properties most Sun City residents have not seen or even know about.

In 1974 John Meeker went hog wild with his Galleria '74 expo of model homes. It was a gorgeous setting off of Boswell Ave (just above Del Webb Blvd) and adjacent to the 10th fairway at Willowcreek. The single family homes were on Wheatridge Drive with the Garden Court apartments, Duplexs, Patio Homes and the Foursomes across the street (that is exactly how they are listed in the brochure).

Without question this was the most exotic showcase of homes to date. Far bigger, more amenities and the location setting was even a cut above. He had put in wonderful grass lined medians, lovely trees and even park benches to sit on. To this day it is still one of those areas where you drive into and almost feel at peace with the world (except maybe for the old codger you followed doing 15 miles an hour on the single lane Boswell Ave).

But alas, I wander as I am want to do. This one home, The Eldorado (Plan 108S), was the first of it's kind. And as much action as it got from visitors, only a handful of them were sold (I'll dig up the total number one of these days), but my guess is it was less than a 10 (with the pool). The reason was simple, it had an optional lap pool smack dab in the middle of the Arizona room.

While it was interesting to look at, had a really cool floor plan with the 2 bedrooms and den, a half bath plus the 2 full bath, it just wasn't very practical. So much so I know of at least a couple of folks who have bought that model and filled in the pool. In fact, I'd find the house more appealing without it.

The Galleria '74 set the tone for the rest of the build-out in Phase 3. The list of exotics included The Frontenac, the Chaparral, the Cosmopolitan and the aforementioned Eldorado. All were unique with angles and ample square footage. Here is a link to the one Wheatridge Drive if you are curious and have never seen what I am talking about.

Take a look at the pictures, it's fun to try and imagine what those first visitors thought as they walked through the front door and saw the pool reflecting back at them.

 

I was in a bidding war on one of those Wheatridge houses last month. Not a big war, I decided to back out because the inside needed too much work and it sold for 140. But that area is very cool indeed with the decorated medians...called the Parkway. That house for 444 is a bit crazy inside.

 

What's a rocking horse doing that close to a pool?
I would definitely need a housekeeper!
Maybe even a cook.
And definitely an au paire (sp?) to keep the kid out of the pool.

 

There's no question that area is one of the most serene in all of Sun City C. In 2010 my mother was looking for a place and looked at a Foursome there. It was only in the $115,000 neighborhood but was more than she wanteed to spend. It needed the normal cosmetic work, but the value was only going to go up on it.

I suspect the rocking horse (and all the other stuff) is so people don't fall in. If you scrolled through, you may have noted the sunken whirlpool in the middle of the bedroom. I could easily picture myself getting up in the middle of the night and taking a late night dip quite by accident.

What kid would you need to keep out of the pool peg? A pair of what?

Anyway, there's any number of model homes that Meeker built that have some interesting angles in them. They were the more expensive models and hence there are fewer of them and not as often for sale as some of the more better priced. I like how Meeker incorporated the more traditional models along with the more unique ones.

Here's the floor plan and specs on the Eldorado from the sales brochure (you know the drill, click on the pic to enlarge):



By the way, here's the original price as of 1975: $75,599 and the pool was a $3000 add on.

 

Here's a better picture of the floor plan by itself:



If anyone is interested, i can post others. Did i mention? I hate, hate, hate when Realtors are too lazy to put the floor plans on the back of information sheets.

 

The rocking horse would be for grandchildren.

An au pair is a domestic assistant from a foreign country working for, and living as part of, a host family.
Typically, aux pairs take on a share of the family's responsibility for childcare as well as some housework,
and receive a monetary allowance for personal use.

You would be wise to put a fence around your sunken whirlpool.

 

I ran across the Wheatridge Drive home while perusing listings a while back. Definitely cool in an over the top sort of way. That pool would almost be worth it to see the look on visitor's faces. Thanks for providing some history on it.

 

Is that area of Wheatridge part of an HOA? Who maintains the medians in that area....Prides, County, their HOA or just residents? There's a lot of work to keep all the landscaping in good order. I think this particular home will be on the market for quite some time.

 

Great question aggie. We know there's several different types of attached housing there that clearly has HOA's. I suspect included in their fees are the costs to maintain the medians. Not sure on how the single family homes pay their share or if they pay anything. Perhaps readers/posters have a better idea how it works in that neighborhood.

Hey Mullet, the wow factor of the indoor pool had to be over the top. When we were looking in Florida we saw several homes where the Florida room had an indoor pool and the rest of the house opened up to it. Seemed pretty cool at the time: When we bought the house we are in now, it had a sunken whirlpool in the backroom and the first thing we did was take it out. The chlorine smell was atrocious.

Realtors do a better job with the condo's and floor plans, but certainly not all of them. And what intrigues me about this property and another on Viewpoint lake in the same price range is they still have some of those old parquet wood floors with the tiny squares...hideous in my humble opinion.

Just curious, when I port floor plans; individual threads or included in this one?

 

Bill. Agreed on the chlorine smell. I try to get as far away as possible at motels. I know nothing about pools, I wonder if one could convert to salt water to eliminate that. Not that I'm about to put in an offer on the Wheatridge house. :joyous:

 

The price is indeed over the top.

I have a question, (and don't shoot me, it is not intended to offend, I am really curious) - - - - why grass? This is the desert, why not enjoy the natural plants and trees of the desert?

 

You're treading on dangerous turf there J_: Sun City residents have long loved their grassy green areas and even the mention of a change will send some straight to the cardiac unit at Boswell. It's gotten better and a little history probably will help: In the early 60's, the bulk of the folks came from Arizona and California. When Meeker came in 1965, he knew to grow the Sun City meant to attract more buyers from the Midwest. He instituted the Play and Stay and he also incorporated more of the attached housing. They were initially pointed toward those coming from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois etc. Less than full time buyers who wanted/needed to see green grass and lots of trees.

The bulk of the grassy areas were around duplex's, quads and garden court units. Buyers felt they were more at home with grass than they were with the rock. With the cost of water and maintenance lots of these individual HOA's are converting to rock, but it is a battle. Long time owners often bought them because of the greenery, while new owners are looking long term and seeing little value in paying the rising costs associated with the green space.

Back to that original design on the Eldorado; DEVCO often built multiple exterior floor plans (called elevation), with basically the same internal floor plan. In the case of the Eldorado, it was the H-108 series and the other 3 names of like plans were: H-108 C The Constellation; H-108 D The Westerly; H-108 F The Versailles and of course and plan H-108 S The Eldorado. All of them sold listed for $75,990.

 

Thanks Bill....I really am not trying to stir anything up - I am a very much a live and let live type of person. You want grass, have grass. I've just wondered.

The prices of those early models reminds me of taking my dad with me when I went to buy a new car - he looked at the price of the car and said, "That's more than your mom and I paid for the house". The car was a 198? Toyota Celica that cost just over $13,000. The house is a Craftsman home sitting on an acre of land, bought in 1960.

 

You're not stirring anything up J_ the whole pint of asking is simply to get answers. The discussion forced me to dig deep and step into the confessional. Last summer we broke down and put some "grass" in.

Here's a shot of it:

 

If they removed all the excess in the house it might sell easier. As it is now its hard to see the house...all I see is stuff.

 

There is no HOA there, except for the condo area. As I mentioned I had a strong bid on one of those houses last month so they would have told me. I think its taken care of like the rest of the medians...its still a public street.

 

We just drove around in the area a couple days ago. The medians aren't as pristine as I first thought. The landscaping is overgrown, there are dead shrubs and weeds scattered throughout. I'm not sure who is responsible for this extensive upkeep but it would really be labor intensive.

 

I have grass front & back. One orange tree. I don't like the fruit but a neighbor does. I used to have Valley View glean it - $20. Now a new neighbor likes the fruit and picks all of it to make juice. He even fertilizes the tree!

No trees in front but the attached condo has a palm tree that I enjoy. My courtyard has several planters with artificial flowers. There are also 3 planters with real plants (yellow flowers) and one section with a real ground cover (elephant something). I spent many years gardening and am happy not to do it any more. The side of my house has an oleander that the gardener prunes every few years. There is also a large shrub that the gardener keeps pruned.

 

I don't care about grass, got rid of mine long ago, but I'm not ready to give up plants. I enjoy watching them grow. I'm a butterfly and hummingbird person. They need the nectar so I will grow some in Sun City to have them around. But majority xeriscape/hardscape is best.

 

A hummingbird has made a nest in one of my outdoor hanging decorations.