ArizonaJeeper [JU]
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Tribe buys 'boulder house' for $4.8 million
Yavapai tribe acquires famed 'boulder house' in Scottsdale for $4.8 mil
he architecturally acclaimed "boulder house" in north Scottsdale has been purchased by the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation.
The tribe paid $4.8 million in cash for the 8,200-square-foot mansion, which was designed by Southwestern architect Charles F. Johnson.
The house, nestled among outcroppings of petroglyph-covered Precambrian boulders, was featured in Architectural Digest in 1983.
It also has been featured on the Discovery Channel as part of the Amazing Vacation Homes program.
The home has three bedrooms and 2 1/2 bathrooms. It sits on 9 acres of land, which can be subdivided for other development.
Michelle Crank, a spokeswoman for the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation, said the tribe bought the house as an investment and hasn't decided what it will do with the property.
The house was built and sold by Bill and Sunnie Empie, said former KTAR talk show host Preston Westmoreland, who is now a real estate agent with Russ Lyon Realty. He and his wife, Nancy, negotiated the sale.
The upscale golf community Whisper Rock surrounds part of the property, which is just south of Carefree. The home had been listed for $5.9 million.
The Empies bought the land, near Lone Mountain and Scottsdale roads, more than 20 years ago after seeing an ad in the Carefree Enterprise publication that read, "Must Sell My Beautiful Pile of Boulders." Property records don't show how much they paid.
Just what they needed.
J
