Press

Profit Magazine

Born to Design Homes
March 2000 Volume III, No. 2

By Marvin Bryan

It’s a modest home by some standards: 13 bedrooms, 24 bathrooms, and 5 swimming pools. So that the owners won't feel cramped, the total "elbow room" in the house and servants' quarters is 52,000 square feet. It has a spectacular 15-acre woodland setting that also includes tropical gardens, a huge ornamental lake, the obligatory floodlighted and heated outdoor tennis courts and an approach consisting of a long drive paved with marble and Italian mosaics. This mansion was designed in the Georgian, neo-classical style, complete with many ornately carved columns. Of course, the interior includes a 28-seat movie theater, an underground car park for nine limos, squash courts, a huge gym, a bowling alley, steam and sauna rooms, and a state-of-the-art wine cellar complete with a tasting area. And best of all, it's conveniently located in Surrey, only 25 miles from central London, close to both Heathrow and Gatwick airports and the Ascot racecourse. A check for $100 million should get you the keys to the front door.

Amazingly enough, this princely pad was ordered by a developer on speculation. He's convinced he'll have no trouble finding a buyer. However, even more amazing is the fact that the architect he selected to design this British Fantasyland is based far away, in the upscale Phoenix suburb of Scottsdale, Arizona. It's John B. Scholz, Architect Inc., a firm that has rapidly acquired a worldwide reputation for dreaming up to-die-for residences in locations ranging from the Caribbean to the United Arab Emirates.

Of course, we interviewed the company's founder and chief architect for you-John B. Scholz himself-because we know that, as one of Profit Magazine~ affluent readers, you'll probably be in the market for a similar luxury home any day now.

Born to Design Homes

Designing homes runs in the Scholz family. John Scholz has been a registered architect since 1972. His father, Don Scholz, started a building firm in 1946 in Toledo, Ohio, became a leading developer of prefabricated luxury homes and at one time had seven plants turning out these products. Even his grandfather, A1 Scholz, was a draftsman. His son John Scholz III serves as marketing director of the firm. At the present time Scholz has a staff of ten creating highly customized living quarters for those who can afford the best. He told us, "We give a lot of personal service. We may expand the staff to as many as 15 members. However, beyond that point, we're afraid we'd no longer be able to offer the same level of top management involvement in the projects we undertake."

The custom luxury homes designed by the Scholz organization range from 3,000 to 60,000 sq. ft. in size. In addition to trying to incorporate everything on the client's wish list in each home, Scholz also recommends builders if appropriate and visits the sites when asked. However, he remarked, "Our plans are so detailed that it's usually not necessary for us to exercise any supervision." Other services available include help with plan and engineering certification through consultants and detailed advice on other preparations needed prior to construction.

John B. Scholz, Architect can also be of assistance to people who either feel they can't afford a custom-designed home or who aren't at all sure as to what they want and would prefer to select a building style and configuration by browsing through a collection of already completed plans. Scholz offers two standard collections: homes in the range of 1500 to 4000 sq. ft. and a second group of larger structures with 3000 to 9000 sq. ft. The collections sell for only $35 each and include beautiful color photos of the designs as actually built, as well as front and side or rear elevations and floor plans for each floor. When customers select one of the designs, they can then purchase complete, detailed building plans for an additional one-time use fee of $1.50 per square foot of livable area. If the customers desire, the company will customize the existing plans, fine-tuning them to meet unique individual requirements.

Scholz is registered in 18 states, but the founder prefers to operate without branch offices, serving clients around the globe from his single location in Scottsdale. "It's much more efficient. This way we can achieve complete coordination of all elements of every project very easily."

What Do Clients Want?

What are the chief desires and concerns of Scholz customers? He replied: "Clients in this category usually want to make a statement. They want something different and impressive. They want that home to represent proof of their stature in the community. Of course, one of the first tests is what we call in the business the curb appeal. In other words, what do you see when you drive up to the front door? What is the initial impact?

"Now sometimes clients don't have as much control over that part of the project as they would like. Often the house must conform architecturally to others in the neighborhood. In that case, there's only so much we can do to create a dramatic effect with the exterior. Instead, we have to rely on the interior features to really set the owners apart. So that leads us to the second test in evaluating the effect of a design: What do visitors see when the front door is opened?"

Scholz told Profit Magazine that currently the most popular styles of architecture with his customers are Mediterranean you might say, the Spanish influence-and Neo-Classical, which includes a generous use of arches and the artistic use of fenestration-the placement of windows in the home. "Our clients want their homes to have an exciting, open look-full of light." As far as the construction materials are concerned, a combination of stucco and stone is very much in demand.

However, he pays a great deal of attention to the livability of the home. He insists, "The design has to be only an impressive envelope for a very functional layout." The great architect Frank Lloyd Wright, unfortunately, along with his reputation for designing striking, unusual buildings that seemed ideally suited to their environments, was known for creating homes that were not particularly comfortable to live in. Scholz tries hard to avoid that defect. "The traffic patterns must be convenient. The owners must have their private space--cocooning, we call it. They want to be shielded from the world, pampered with steam showers and Jacuzzi tubs.

So one part of the home that is definitely increasing in size is the master bedroom suite, often including a sitting area with its own fireplace and even a private exercise room."

And the homes must be practical in all respects. For example, he designed that gigantic estate near London so that on occasions when the owners might not be expecting company and therefore might not want to open and maintain the entire 52,000 sq. ft. mansion, they can choose to occupy only a penthouse suite that can operate in conjunction with a few essential downstairs rooms, leaving the remainder of the giant edifice closed off and undisturbed.

And Where is the Scholz Firm Headed?

We asked John Scholz how he sees big company progressing in the next few years. He responded, "Of course, we expect to expand our international clientele tremendously. And because of the success of our custom home business, we've now been asked to move into the design of other types of unique, luxury living accommodations: elegant condominiums in resort locales and distinguished 'boutique hotels' catering to those who can afford the best.

He expects the firm to be a family business indefinitely. He revealed that he has other children who, when they finish their schooling, may also want to join him in his remarkable enterprise.

John B. Scholz, Architect is located at 4300 N. Miller Road, Suite 234, Scottsdale, AZ 85251. The telephone number is 480-874-2733.

Back to Press Page