The Critchleys have established many relationships through their business travels and enjoy entertaining, but the lower level was specifically designed for their expanding family. Their son, Roman, and his wife, Anna, both computer professionals, have recently had a son, Malcolm. They live in Reno but enjoy coming out of the hills to spend time in the Valley. The lower level provides an almost casitalike privacy for the young family and reaffirms that pleasing separation between parenting and grandparenting that only grandparents know.
The Critchleys have always gone the road less traveled—with their life and their homes. They’ve known each other since childhood in Glasgow: In 1962, George asked her to marry him: “‘Will you go with me to Australia?’ he asked me,” Dorothy recalls. They were married in Lancastershire in England, where she had moved to live with her brother.
The first eight years of their lives were in Perth where they built an ultramodern home that annoyed some and inspired others. Moving to California, they lived in various homes during the next 26 years; they lost a San Bernardino home to a forest fire 15 years ago. On Vancouver Island, they built a castle-inspired home in part from stones salvaged from an old museum in nearby Victoria.
Here in Scottsdale, they’ve chosen the crisp simplicity of Tsontakis’ design: “They like contemporary style, with openness and views and well-proportioned and unique geometric spaces,” he says. In addition to the emphasis on glass and light, the architect has also incorporated many signature details like tubular “Tsontakis columns” on the rear façade and stepped-back ceilings in the foyer and great room. “They are both very simple people and they have exquisite taste,” Tsontakis adds.
Their crisp kitchen illustrates this discrimination and their contemporary bent. They’ve purchased the best appliances: An Asko dishwasher, a Franke sink, a Wolf range and a Sub-Zero refrigerator. Fleetwood dual-pane gas-filled storefront windows here and throughout the home ensure comfort even in the summer months; Fountain Hills is a little cooler than most parts of the Valley as well.