Home Design: Home-court advantage
What makes a home eclectic? Surely, there’s no label of interior design that’s misused more often. Not to worry, Phoenix Suns’ basketball legend Alvan Adams and his wife Sarah are on hand to show the real deal. With their indisputably warm, inviting - and thoroughly eclectic - Paradise Valley home, the Adamses have hoisted the design term onto a pedestal of exquisite taste.
Alvan and Sarah began their home-building project eight years ago, in a neighborhood that allows only traditionally designed houses. True to the rule, their 5,000-square-foot Territorial looks like it’s been there for a long, long time. The effect is intentional. “We lived in Encanto from 1976 through 1996, and we loved the older architecture in that neighborhood,” Alvan said. “That’s one of the reasons we decided to build where we did.”
The Adamses know something about home design. When he wasn’t playing basketball, Alvan was busy studying architecture, a career he nearly pursued until he was bitten once and for all by the sports bug. Sarah studied interior design in college and has worked as a designer. Needless to say, they both played an active role in their home’s planning and construction.
Understated objective
The couple set out to create an understated effect throughout their home’s design, and they’ve succeeded marvelously. Their gravel driveway proceeds past a small guest house and then dips down through a narrow wash, on the other side of which is a picturesque stone bridge and walkway leading to the front door. The modest, one-story, stucco-faced home is fronted by a broad, inviting porch, replete with two rocking chairs. Because the house was built with a direct western exposure, the porch serves a practical, as well as an aesthetic, purpose. The house’s earth-toned exterior is neatly accented by authentic white trim. Small details - such as triangular window pediments and a brick parapet - add to the integrity of the home’s traditional design.
Inside, the rooms to left and right are perfectly bisected by a brick-tiled central hallway that extends from the front door all the way to the rear of the house. The hallway’s 14-foot ceilings are dominated by massive wood beams that were distressed to give them an aged character and presence. The beams’ repetition throughout the long corridor adds a sense of stability to this, the home’s central “spine,” as Alvan termed it. Adding to the effect, a window in the rear of the hallway reveals a striking view of Camelback Mountain’s western facade.
Discovering rooms
The architect for the project was Jeff Swan, then of Gerald A. Doyle and Associates. “We wanted an old-style home, and Jeff told us that, in an older home, you ‘discover’ the rooms,” Sarah said. “You don’t simply walk in and see them all. That was a key idea in how our house was designed.”
Discovery is the operating term when visiting the Adamses. Their home has become a repository for the artifacts and little treasures that they’ve accumulated over 31 years of marriage. Each painting, item of pottery and adornment is like a museum piece, with a story all its own. Sarah gestured to a stately fireplace surround in the home’s comfortable living room. “We found this in England,” she said. Alvan pointed out a charming set of hand-woven Passamaquoddy Indian baskets from Maine, which they inherited from Sarah’s parents. “Everything that’s not a big piece of furniture has a story,” he said. “And the story is not the simple one that says, ‘we just bought it and put it there.’”
“We’ve filled our house with things that we’ve collected in our travels - things we love,” Sarah added. “I think homes should evolve. It doesn’t matter if the things that you fill your house with don’t appear to match - if you love them, they’ll work.”
Another goal for their home, Alvan says with a straight face, was to make sure it had an attached garage. “We’ve never had one in any house we’ve lived in!” he exclaimed, half seriously. “So we said to ourselves, ‘we’re going to have an attached garage next to the kitchen.’” A bit later, walking through the house, Alvan opened a door off of the kitchen and gestured triumphantly. “The garage!”
Kitchen pass
The kitchen is one of the home’s strongest elements, Sarah believes. It’s easy to see why; connected to the dining room by a charming butler’s pantry, the spacious room is as inviting a culinary habitat as one can be. It serves as a focal point for their home’s engaging comfort, and is a gathering place, “where friends and family always end up when we’re entertaining,” Sarah said. Milky globes from large schoolroom lamps suspended over a free-standing work counter accent the friendly space.
The ceilings throughout the house are soaring, as are the doorways from room to room - for good reason, one learns. “Most doorways are built to be 6 feet 8 inches in height, and I’m 6 feet 9,” Alvan said. “So you can understand why we got involved with that aspect of design.” It wasn’t their primary motivation, however. “I think if we had been jockeys, we’d still have built a tall house.”
Art of all kinds graces the Adams home. Several striking portraits by New Mexico-based neo-surrealist Paul Pletka gaze from the walls, as do other works by T.C. Cannon. A recent acquisition, a set of antique gilded wings, repose on the living room mantel. And Zoe, a predecessor of the family’s current Bernese mountain dogs, Chester and Maizy, is memorialized in a stunning portrait hanging above the fireplace in the couple’s master bedroom. Surprisingly, the painting was a commission done by Leonardo Bianco, the father of renowned local pizza artisan Chris Bianco.
Storybook background
In storybook fashion, Alvan and Sarah met before their first day of classes as college freshmen at Oklahoma State. Introduced by a mutual friend, they’ve been inseparable since. Alvan went on to become a legendary college athlete. Nicknamed “The Oklahoma Kid,” he was an intercollegiate standout before he was drafted by the Suns in 1975. He played for the team for 13 seasons, retiring in 1988.
“I had three contracts through that time, and I didn’t consider going anywhere else,” Alvan said. “We had really good teams through those contracts, and I wanted to stay here and play for Phoenix. Fortunately for us, we got to stay in this city and it’s our hometown now.” Today, Alvan works for Sports & Entertainment Services, the company that manages facilities for US Airways Center, Chase Field and the Dodge Theatre.
During his rookie year with the Suns, Alvan helped the team advance to the 1976 NBA finals, after which he was named NBA Rookie of the Year. In that now legendary championship series with the Boston Celtics, the fifth and final game went into triple overtime, in a 128-126 Suns loss. “It was David versus Goliath,” Alvan characterized it. “We were not expected to do anything. We ended up losing that series, but we had really good teams for the entire next decade. It was really the beginning of putting Phoenix onto the sports map.”
Alvan is one of 11 Suns’ players and staff named to the team’s Ring of Honor. His jersey, bearing his number, 33, was retired in 1988 and is today suspended in US Airways Center. Adams remains the Suns’ all-time leader in games played, rebounds and steals.
