24 ARCADIA HOME SUMMER 2009 Home Name: Nature’s Grace Owner: Kathy Kolbe Builder: Dwayne Lewis Designer: Dwayne Lewis Square Footage: 4,800 Year Built: 1992 Kolbe’s home is an extension of her life’s work. Rules and conformity do not apply here. While her neighbors’ properties have paved driveways and scripted landscaping, the front of Kolbe’s home is gravel and natural desert. “When you come up our drive you don’t see a house,” says Kolbe. “You see a setting. You see wildlife. You see the mountain.” Once inside, your eyes are immediately drawn to a wall of windows showcasing multiple gardens, sitting areas, pool, and mighty Camelback Mountain. A fourth-generation gardener, Kolbe designed the backyard to be both a personal sanctuary and a place for people of all ages to come and be together. There is a playhouse, a race track, pond and stream, and a wood-fire pizza oven. The entire property has a magical energy to it. And a healing power. In 1989, Kolbe was hit by a drunk driver, an accident that left her both physically and mentally disabled. She had to relearn to speak, read, and walk. “I didn’t want to recuperate in a gym, I wanted to recuperate at home,” Kolbe says. “And I can’t imagine having my abilities come back anywhere else.” More evidence of Kolbe’s research and her can-do spirit can be found in the home’s Conasium™, a multi-use creative suite that houses a working stage, jukebox, food, and crafts. “This room is to the mind what a gym is to the body,” says Kolbe. “It is a space that energizes you to create whatever you want.” Kolbe put her personal stamp on other parts of the home as well, raising the dishwasher off the ground to make loading/unloading easier and putting in two kitchen sinks, one for taller people to use and one for the vertically challenged. “There are too many communities of houses that all look the same and my work has taught me that following the rules doesn’t help people to be their best,” Kolbe says. “Don’t tell me the rules, tell me the possibilities.”

• Listing Homes • Selling Homes • Property Management • Top 1% Worldwide Year After Year MacLean Team Office Heather@AreaSuccess.com ~ 602-840-2060 See all of our listings: www.AreaSuccess.com Heather MacLean • Kristen White • Alexis McComish DISTINCTIVE HOMES IN A DISTINGUISHED COMMUNITY Next issue: Fall / Winter 2009 Deadline: Friday October 2, 2009 THEARCADIAHOME.COM Advertising info: Jennifer Sand at 602-840-6379. DISTINCTIVE HOMES IN A DISTINGUISHED COMMUNITY Hollywood Bungalow Hollywood Bungalow Old World Arcadia Old World Arcadia Frank Lloyd Wright, Jr. Frank Lloyd Wright, Jr. D I S T I N C T I V E H O M E S I N A D I S T I N G U I S H E D C O M M U N I T Y THE ENTERTAINER COLLECTOR’S HAVEN HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN D I S T I N C T I V E H O M E S I N A D I S T I N G U I S H E D C O M M U N I T Y MODERN ORGANICS MODERN ORGANICS VIEWS OF WONDER VIEWS OF WONDER VENTURA HIDEAWAY VENTURA HIDEAWAY D I S T I N C T I V E H O M E S I N A D I S T I N G U I S H E D C O M M U N I T Y VIEWS OF WONDER WRIGHT’S MODERN ORGANICS VENTURA HIDEAWAY 10/13/08 3:52:31 PM D I S T I N C T I V E H O M E S I N A D I S T I N G U I S H E D C O M M U N I T Y COPENHAVER KEEP NATURE’S GRACE ICELANDIC PRECISION From the people who bring you Arcadia News Welcome to the Arcadia Home