LuxuryDesertHideaways

Extraordinary homes, properties and TV Stories. We wish to thank members of the Phoenix and national media for being so supportive of our unique listings. Click on the photo to see a compilation of some of them. Even we were surprised by how many!

The Boulder House This is an historic tour. See the inside of this 4600 sq. ft. home built inside a pile of boulders near Carefree. The home was called "The Best House in America" by Stanley Marcus.

MUST SEE! The home was sold in 2006 to Ft. McDowell Indian Nation for $ 4.8 million

The Bob Massi Property Man Segments!

We feel very honored that Fox News selected some of our listings to be profiled on the Fox News show "The Property Man" with Bob Massi. Crews from LA and New York came into town to journeyed up to Gold Hill and did a story on Gold Hill and our Octave Mine properties. They also spent 9 hours taping a comprehensive tour of the astonishing Boulder House in North Scottsdale. It has aired many times since then. Click on the photos to see the shows!

See inside the famous Boulder House Gold Mines

The legendary Octave Mine property

Going down into steep rock-strewn tunnels is not for the faint of heart, but two Phoenix TV stations sent veteran reporters down the Octave tunnels with me and did some amazing stories. Here are both of them. One feature is Greg Argos who worked at the time for CBS 5 and Steve Kraft, who has since retired, from Fox 10. Enjoy their work! The Octave property is still offered for sale three different ways and was just featured by Forbes Magazine (click on Best Listings button)

Hidden ranch in Cave Creek, The Golden Star

Cool House host Syleste Rodrique from Fox10, has always been supportive of our properties and came out to this secret ranch to tour the property. We have also added on to her story with our own property tour and a look at the opening scene from a big budget pilot movie filmed around the property called Solus. The Golden Star has been sold to some loving buyers who will preserve this Legcy Property. Selling price: $2.150 million

Skyranch home with a monster hangar!

Having sold this home twice, we have been very gratified to have it featured numerous times on tv by different reporters and stations. Here's the latest story done on Cool House by Syleste Rodriguez
This residence has been sold and no longer for sale. Sold for $1.9 million

The Home That Estrogen Built The most unique home EVER built inside the exclusive Boulders Resort area. A living art museum with amazing features around every corner. Check out the huge triangular door, water moat around the fireplace, and gemstones embedded in the floor. This home is no longer offered for sale.

Mountain top estate in Cave Creek,

Tour this mountain-top hideaway featured by the Wall St. Journal, built on 75 acres. There is no home like it anywhere. Fox 10 News said it was one of the greatest homes they've ever featured. This home, with 54 acres, was sold by us in October of 2012 for $3.8 million. Preston takes the Fox 10 cameras inside with Diane Ryan for "Cool House." Scroll down to see other TV stations take a look inside! This home and property is no longer for sale.

Carefree Skyranch Fox 10 Tour Luxury home on the runway at one of America's most exclusive fly-in airparks. See the largest hangar ever built on a private home there. Diane Ryan of Fox 10 features it on "Cool House. We sold this home for $ 2.6 million. See another featured TV show on this same house below!

Carefree Skyranch KTVK Tour Two different tours of the same phenomenal home. This tour done by the excellent "Home Sweet Home" feature by Sue Breding on Arizona's News Channel, Channel 3 in Phoenix. See how different they are! This home, by the way, was not only an airport home, but has a golf course lot on the Desert Forest Golf Course. SOLD twice over the years. See the latest tour by scrolling down!

Paradise Valley Dude Ranch Impressive remodel job unlike anything in the area. Surrounded by million-dollar mansions, this quaint complex was rumored to be an early dude ranch in Paradise Valley. Loaded with art objects from around the world, it has the look of an eclectic museum. A rare look into a unique property! Not for sale now.

The Jewel of Terravita A one-year top to bottom remodel of a home in this popular Del Webb community near Carefree. I bet its the only Terravita home to be featured like this on a TV tour. You'll see why! This residence was sold and no longer on the market.

Fox 10 tours an incredible home! A tour of one of the hottest homes in the Phoenix area, a $ 4.3 million mansion in Estancia, about to hit the market, in foreclosure, listed for #$ 1.3 million. Preston Westmoreland predicted on -camera that the home would sell in one day, and it did, for $ 100,000 above the asking price. Calls came in from all over the nation, and the first morning, 45 realtors called requesting tours. This home is no longer available, but fun to watch!

Fox 10 tours a Skyranch Adobe Home and Hangar tour of this carefully and historically-crafted adobe home on the Skyranch runway and backing to the world-famous Desert Forest Golf Course. See the famous fireplace invented in the 1700's by Count Rumford, adobe craftsmanship and wood that was triple-soaked in Scandinavian Tung oil to survive the harsh desert climate. This home is no longer for sale.

CBS5 KPHO ventures deep into historic Gold Hill Mine! A tour of one of Maricopa County's most unique properties, historic Gold Hill mine in Scottsdale. Journey in with Katie Baker and the news crew as they join Preston and encounter a rattlesnake in the tunnel! This property is not for sale any longer.

ABC15's Brian Webb explores Gold Hill This was the first local TV coverage of this 117 acre property, discovered back in 1874, and surrounded by the luxury golf community of Desert Mountain. The San Francisco Chronicle announced the big gold find in one of their editions and many forty-niners headed for the Cave Creek Mining District to seek their fortune. We have had more tours of Gold Hill than any other property. See more below!

Spanish Colonial Masterpiece on Marlette Ave in Paradise Valley with Diane Ryan on Fox10.
European flair mark this exquisite Paradise Valley property showcased by Fox10. The Casita looks like it came out of a Fairy Tale and you'll marvel at the workmanship that created the inverted brick ceilings of the formal dining room and wine room. Broadcasted Monday March 16th, 2012. No longer for sale.

See the Phoenix-area's highest available view property on a ridge high atop Carefree's Black Mountain! This residence, protected by two private gates, is on 13 acres 27 stories above the summit of Piestewa Peak. It's a home that can never be duplicated again. The owners show what can be done in a contemporary remodel of a Santa Barbara-style home. It's also unusual in that there are many flat, wide areas surrounding the home for entertaining.. Broadcasted Monday, July 30, 2012. Not actively on the market now.

CBS5 picks the Fleming Springs home as one of "Phoenix's Greatest Real Estate Deals!"CBS 5 has chosen our fantastic 75 Acre Private Estate as "The Best Deal in Phoenix" and veteran reporter Katie Baker and crew spent several hours at the property preparing a story to air on their CBS 5 Morning Show. This home has now been reduced from $16.3 million to $ 6.4 million We no longer have this home listed for sale. We sold it for $3.8 million years ago.

CNN tapes the first TV and cable coverage of our Gold Hill listing when it was $ 43 million dollars!

Videographer Steven Pope ventured up to the mine for CNN and decided I would tell the story. No reporter asking me questions, he just had me describe the property while sitting in front of the tunnel and traveling through the mine. Interesting to note. You will see a liquor bottle inside the tunnel placed there by a prospective buyer. Right after the story aired on CNN Money, the mine was broken into and the liquor bottle stolen!

Brandon Hamilton tours our large estate listing
Brandon did one of the most creative stories we had seen on this home, and we had many stories done!
We no longer have this home listed for sale.

Some of the many other gold hill stories

When Jonathon Trierweiler of ABC15 decided to feature the gold hill mine, his story set off a firestorm of interest. This was the second story done on the property by ABC15. And you can say that this latest story brought the most reaction. No other story has done that. Other TV stations followed and did stories as well, and a flurry of buyers saw the property. See ABC15's piece below, along with Jason Barry's from Channels 5 and 3. Jason impressed all of us by wearing a white shirt and tie into the mine, and emerging with not mark on it! Finally, Brandon Hamilton's story is linked below. He enjoyed venturing into the mine so much, I thought he would have bought it, if he brought along his checkbook!

Jason Barry story Brandon Hamilton

ABC 15 story

2nd tour of this Cave Creek estate on Fox10's Cool House
A house is lucky enough to be featured on TV once. This home was featured on "Cool House" twice over the years. Former Fox10 host Kristin Anderson does the honors. Residence has been sold.

Carefree's iconic Wedding Cake House
My former newscaster at KTAR, Diane Brennan, who has become very successful in real estate, toured the Wedding Cake House in Carefree. It had also been featured by the Wall Street Journal and this was the only tv tour they allowed. This home was sold, but one week before the new owners were to move in, a massive fire destroyed this landmark Italian villa residence. It is being rebuilt on the site, as a smaller contemporary home.

Lost to a huge fire

The Last Outpost forty-acre off-grid gold property
Remote property high on Continental Mountain, with a gold mine featured in a science fiction movie. Brian Webb of Fox 10 did his usual amazing job of media coverage.

Spectacular and rare Rackensack Mine property with helipad, featured by Brian Webb on Fox10
Although this protected and historic off-grid enclave never sold, it's one of our favorite places. Here's a look at one of the TV stories done by Brian Webb, along with my co-lister Barbara Miller.

One of the highest view properties, Cottonwood Canyon
Syleste Rodriguez, host of "Cool House" tours this stunning fortress home, one of the highest anywhere in Phoenix, with it's own full-size racquetball court, perched on a knoll with amazing drop-offs and a driveway not for the faint-of-heart! We were pleased to sell this home. We no longer have it listed for sale.

Preston Westmoreland was asked to broadcast from Piestewa Peak Park July 3 morning with Rick and Andrea on Fox10 News, to provide expertise in desert survival techniques while an ongoing search for a hiker continued in the Superstition Mountains. He demonstrated an EPIRB device (above left) , which can send a pulse of encoded information on your ID and location to a satellite, within seconds of being activated. Sadly, the 55 year old hiker, Kenny Clark, was found dead five days later, only one mile from the trailhead where he had left.
Watch the broadcast:

For further information or to tour these properties, call Preston and Nancy Westmoreland, at Russ Lyon Sotheby's International at: 602-377-0060 Let them find your true Arizona getaway!
email: preston.westmoreland@russlyon.com