Homes

Some, like Phoenix’s Jack and Sharon Dawson, like it hot. But this active couple also likes it cold. So—such are the perks of retirement—they enjoy both: salmon in rugged Ketchikan, Alaska, and luxurious thaw and play at their desert haven in the Optima Biltmore Towers near 24th Street and Camelback Road in Phoenix.

As eco-consciousness makes its way into the everyday, one Valley community is finding that the once costly and unattainable benefits associated with green building are not only a possibility, but also a reality.

It took more than two years to complete Clarke Adams’s DC Ranch retreat. But with a resulting residence that can act as a home away from home for 20 of his nearest and dearest, the wait was well worth it.

Going once, going twice, sold—to the man with the black hat and white mustache. O.K., not really. But it seems these days, with all the home foreclosures around us, that everyone’s life has become like the popular board game Monopoly, and we are all looking for our “Get out of Jail Free” card.