Happy Holidays to you all! We close out 2011 and look back at a busy year and we look ahead to what 2012 will bring.
2011 was a busy year for all of us at Candelaria Design. We saw several great projects begin and several complete. We’ve had our ups and our downs but we continue moving forward in always doing our best to design beautiful homes that hopefully “Enhance our Clients’ Lifestyles.”
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| Casa Candelaria |
First, thank you for all the goodies and bottles of wine. It is always appreciated but definitely not necessary. We are so blessed and really, we have enough popcorn balls and peanut brittle to last till July. This year instead of sending gifts to all of the current and past clients, vendors, builders, subs, etc…. we are donating a day at St. Mary’s Food Bank as we did during our first years whereby we will sort and package food for them which in turn feeds hundreds of families just from our one day effort. We will let you all know the date and we encourage you to come join us. It is a very fun and especially rewarding day.
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| Zona Verde - 2011 Gold Nugget Award |
A few highlights from 2011 include receiving the Gold Nuggett Award for 2011 for the Best Custom Home over 6500 sf at the Pacific Coast Builder’s Conference in San Francisco in June of this year. This award was given to our Zona Verde home in Paradise Valley that we designed for two lovely clients who have been so appreciative and gracious. We again want to thank our great team, Builder Desert Start Construction; Landscape Architects, Berghoff Design Group; Lighting Designer Walter Spitz and Creative Design in Lighting, and Interior Designer, Vallone Design. I also must thank two special people on this project, Jim Smith of Serve the Nation who ran the show and kept us all heading down the right design direction; and my project architect, Jeff Kramer, who made it all happen!
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| Extreme Home Tour Entry Courtyard |
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| Extreme Home Tour Living Room |
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| Extreme Home Tour BunkHouse |
We were featured on the Extreme Home Tour by
Phoenix Home and Garden Magazine
in November for our lovely Spanish Colonial Estate in Paradise Valley again for two wonderful clients who offered their home for the tour to raise money for the Heard Museum. Yet another fabulous dream team, Builder Greg Hunt of GM Hunt Construction, Landscape Greg Trutza of New Directions in Landscaping, Lighting by Creative Designs in Lighting and Interiors by Patty Burdick of Wiseman and Gale. This is the fourth home we have had on this tour over the last five years!
We were fortunate to be featured in
Phoenix Home and Garden Magazine
several times including three covers this year alone and also received nice coverage in LUXE Magazine for a number of our homes. We greatly appreciate their continued coverage of our work.
The year saw several wonderful projects completed which is always so rewarding for us to see our clients’ live in their dream home. What a joy it is to hear their stories and as many of you know, I love the opportunity to then come in and cook for you or with you in that new kitchen! From homes in Idaho to homes here in Arizona we saw a lot of projects wrap up and had some really good times at those open house celebrations!
Candelaria Design also had a lot happening with our staff. We had a member of our staff get married and then welcome a new baby! We have a member of our staff with a baby on the way! We added a new member to our team in November, Damon Wake, and brought back an original member, Meara Perrin. They have been great additions as we head into 2012. Damon comes to us via Cornell University and is the nephew of one of our clients. He has already brought a lot of energy and enthusiasm to our team. Many of you remember Meara who came on board this Fall and is running the front desk and directing our Marketing. She has several great ideas going forward into 2012 including a revamped website and some apps forthcoming that I think clients and fans will find useful, creative, interactive and fun. Overall, I love my team and thanks to all of you for putting up with me! Every day is definitely an adventure.
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| St. James Tavern London |
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| Picadilly Circus - London |
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| London at Night |
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| Santa Fe |
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| Espanola, New Mexico |
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| Glacier National Park |
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| Our last ski trip with our late friend Dave Reinsch (center) in Park City |
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| Dukes Hotel - London |
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| Santa Fe |
This year we had trips to London, New York, LA, Park City, Montana, Colorado, Houston, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, LaJolla, and Idaho just to name a few. The Italy Trip 2012 is set for May 30
th – June 11
th with an extension option to Paris for three days and three nights…..More details to follow. The response for the trip has been overwhelming so we are now potentially planning a fall trip too!
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| My girls at the Farmer's Market - Coeur d'Alene, Idaho |
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| Getting ready for the Parada del Sol - Scottsdale. |
Meanwhile, we keep working and drawing away. I manage to put in my 60-80 hours a week, I attempt to keep up with my two younger daughters, Sophia 6 and Isabella 9, and my oldest daughter, Tiffany, who just was awarded the Trailblazer of the month at the Westin Kierland Resort! And then there was Dancing with the Stars for the Arizona Kidney Foundation last February, and also my time with the Scottsdale Charros and our rides and San Francico Giant spring training. So we are always busy.
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| Dancing with the Stars |
Finally, I want to thank my lovely Isabel who has really helped me through this year that included back surgery at the end of April, moving several times, and just always being there for me during this crazy year. She truly is my angel.
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| Isabel and I at the Ivy in LA |
Well, that’s a quick rundown. I’m exhausted and ready to get a little rest before we kick it in gear and get ready for 2012. I wish everyone the best – we are always there for you whether as your architect or as your friend. God bless you all.
