No Place Like Home for the Holidays

Setting out on a Winter Road Trip that would take the High Plains Drifters away from our Pacific Northwest home between Thanksgiving and Christmas seemed pretty peculiar to a number of our acquaintances there.

We’d be missing those weeks of rushing around to replace Thanksgiving decorations with Christmas-appropriate décor, writing the annual Christmas letter, shopping for, and delivering, presents and of course,cooking.

We’d also be missing winter weather (the likes of which we left behind on Thanksgiving morning – this scene on Snoqualmie Pass, WA).


And, worse, friends exclaimed, we wouldn’t be ‘home’ for the holidays’.  But, oh, contraire!



We are home.  We are settled quite comfortably into our ‘interval world’  home, this one an adobe casita which is part of our Four Seasons Resident Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. Here we own a fractional piece of deeded property which can be used or traded for another locale.  The best kind of second home for our nomadic lifestyle.

I should note these photos were taken before we cluttered it with ‘our stuff’ which certainly does make it feel – and look -- like home.


We’ve been hooked on this type of second-home lifestyle for several years now; having first taken the plunge with Hawaiian ownership.

It really is like home:  we cook (there’s a full kitchen) , do laundry and go grocery shopping – just like at the other home back in Washington. However, here we can walk to the gym a few yards from our casita and later sun at poolside, with attendants setting up the lounges and bringing us beverages while back in the room, the maid is bringing new towels and making the bed (you get the idea).

Oh, but what about Christmas and all the decorations and celebrations? 

Well, let me show you:

I chose to feature  the Residence Club and the nearby Four Season’s Hotel lobby – in later posts I’ll show you more from Phoenix and Scottsdale.

Last night we strolled the paved walkway that links the residences to the hotel for a Happy Hour Margarita and were greeted at the hotel’s entrance by these young musicians who played Christmas caroles – their music setting a seasonal tone throughout the development.



Here it seems everything is decorated for the season; even our cacti and the best part is that we didn’t have to raise a finger getting them so:



Arizona’s weather, we are told, is unseasonably warm this year. It’s been in the mid- to high-70’s but a colder spell is on the way.  Supposed to drop to 61-degrees on Friday. With that kind of weather on the way, the High Plains Drifters will be heading back to the Pacific Northwest.
Oh, but what a holiday at home we have had!

Four Seasons: Crescent Moon Luxury and Legacy

Scottsdale, that oasis in the midst of the Arizona desert, is synonymous with ‘luxury living’. Gorgeous homes the color of the leather-tanned landscape are scattered throughout the surrounding hillsides. 

It's a Panoramas-and-Pools lifestyle. The good life.  A dry, warm, sunny good life; a second-home locale for many web-footed Washingtonians like us who are seeking a respite from wet and gray. 

Last year when Joel found the deal -- an interval ownership at the Four Seasons Residence Club Scottsdale for a price too good to pass up -- we joined those desert destined sun seekers. Well, at least for two weeks every year – that’s the way it is with interval ownership. . .and that’s just the way we like it.

Earlier this month we spent our first week at our ‘vacation home’  basking in the luxury lifestyle for which Four Seasons is known.  We were addressed by name each time we approached the front desk. Pool attendants hurried to spread our beach towels over the cushioned lounge chairs, then bring  pitchers of ice-water and regularly check on our comfort level. One lazy morning when we altered our routine and our room attendant tapped on our door to see ‘if everything was okay’.  Another took Joel’s dusty sandals, had them polished and returned them looking like new within an hour. 

The Residence Club is a small development built around a pool area that features a small restaurant, Ocotillo Grill, an enormous hot tub, quiet pool, kiddies pool and regular pool.  It’s a quick walk to the adjacent to the Four Seasons Hotel, where we had access to its pool, gym and spa facilities (even though we had our own pool and exercise room).

Note:  You need not be an owner to stay at the Residence Club – units here can be rented just like the nearby hotel.

East Crescent Moon Drive at Pinnacle Peak – A Legacy of Hospitality


What attracted us to this resort, aside from its reputation for luxury, was its location. Sitting at the base of the 600-foot tall Pinnacle Peak, there are territorial views over Phoenix and Scottsdale and Troon Mountain is just across the street.

The resort’s address is Crescent Moon Drive. One of its restaurants is named Crescent Moon. Both give a nod of tribute to a legacy of hospitality that existed at this location long before the Four Seasons. 

In 1948 George Ellis, a Scottsdale resident who was to become known for his architectural contributions to the area, designed and built Crescent Moon Ranch where the Four Seasons Resort is located.

Crescent Moon Ranch*, a 127-acre property, was owned by cereal heiress Lois Kellogg Maury and her husband. Maury used the  adobe and redwood main house (with a lily pool in the living room), two guest houses and a bunk house as a finishing school for wealthy Eastern debutantes, in addition to renting out guest cottage to seasonal visitors.  

In 1967 it was sold to Gordon Ingebritson, an insurance executive, developer, rancher and philanthropist.

In 1997 the ranch was demolished. In December 1999 the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North opened its doors. 

And are we ever glad they did!
*****
*Historical information used in this post is from Four Seasons Resort and a documents filed with the National Register of Historic Places.


Photos: (in order) Pathway between Residence Club and Hotel; Residence Club library off the lobby; view over pool of Residence Club from our deck; Pinnacle Peak from outside our door, and view from Residence Club.


Four Seasons Resort, 10650 E. Crescent Moon Drive, Scottsdale, 480-515-5700, www.fourseasons.com/scottsdale