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Royale Gardens I | 1963 & 1967
Rancho Vista Drive in Scottsdale
Phase 1 by Malouf Development Company
Phase 2 by Haver, Nunn & Jensen
for Dell Trailor
Today Royale Gardens is one of Scottsdale's premiere townhome subdivisions, but it almost didn't turn out that way. Saddled with poor sales during Phase 1 in 1963, Malouf's development wasn't successfully finished until developer Dell Trailor took an interest in picking up the pieces that the previous developer had left behind. 
Before we consider Haver, Nunn and Jensen's contribution, it is important to understand the context of the original attempt to launch Royale Gardens. In 1963, the concept of condominiums were a foreign concept. People just weren't used to purchasing property with features like shared walls or shared recreational amenities like a poolhouse. And when they did, Trailor thought they were looking for something a little more distinctive than the international style facades presented by Malouf in Phase 1. Why would someone purchase a home that looked just live everyone else's? Or looked so international that it might be found anywhere else on the planet?
While clean and attractive by today's standards of quality in midcentury modern design, Trailor thought it was possible that these original units lacked the sizzle to compete at the higher price point they were asking for. 
12 units were built in Phase 1, as well as the poolhouse. But then sales languished. By 1965, all of the units were bank-owned. Many of the units eventually converted into apartments. 
The pool house was especially stylish, using precast concrete vaults, but lacked aesthetic tie-ins with the nearby homes.
Enter Dell Trailor, who had recently struck out on his own after breaking from Allied Homes. He purchased the rest of the undeveloped lots and tasked his friend Ralph Haver AIA to design more individualized structures with custom tailored features more worthy of fetching a tony price point. Haver chose a Spanish/Moorish/Mediterranean style that lent an air of fantastical regional exoticism.Haver's firm took a cue from the success of nearby Villa Monterrey, Golden Keys, and Villa d'Este of Scottsdale, and Sutton Place of Phoenix, which also fused Spanish styling in a stripped-down early iteration of the postmodern aesthetic. Tile work, breezeblock, arches, vigas, wrought iron gates, and shallow balconies formed a common vocabulary that would be repeated across Royale Gardens and many more Dell Trailor developments still to come.
Describing the success of his Gold Key home concepts, Trailor remarked that Modernism has run its course, and that people were hungry for something warmer and more exotic. He must have been right, because native Arizonans and newcomers ate it right up. The project was a success, and he quickly filled out a second subdivision using the same plans at Royale Gardens II in central Phoenix. 
In the March 1966 issue of Arizona Builder/Architect magazine, Trailor revelaed his rationale for the style:
"As complexities of life close in, people seek the very old and lasting. This is one of the reasons the Spanish influence is becoming so strong. The Spanish design is easy to make warm and friendly. Contemporary is severe and cold. People dream of warmth and security because life is complex. Inner needs should be satisfied with the design, because they certainly influence purchasing habits.''
Trailor was a master of marketing and took care to make sure the public took note of his accomplishments. One way he spread the word was through a slide show feature on All-Electric homes sponsored by General Electric's Carousel of Progress, which was exhibited at Disneyland's Tomorrowland to show exemplary homes of the future. Royale Gardens was aslo featured in a 2-page ad in Life magazine in the late 60s.
Developments like these became the talk of the real estate world and bolstered the Valley's reputation as a winter haven, where seasonal "lock and leave" home ownership — or second home ownership — could become a reality. In 1967, prices for the units ranged from $31,900 to $36,900.
The genius of Haver's contribution was finding a way to make mass-production of semi-custom details fit into a reasonable budget. Repeating and modifying the same general floorplans helped the projects scale up. The inclusion of different tile patterns, wrought iron railings, chandeliers, nooks, arches and balcony details makes each model feel different enough from its neighbor.
Though not visible here, each home has up to four atriums that punch through the volumes and let natural light illuminate the interior.
Royale Gardens wasn't created in a vacuum, though, nor was it the first of its kind. It was borrowing heavily from lessons learned at Trailor and Haver's already successful collaboration at Golden Keys, Sutton Place, Beekman Place, and Villa D'Este developments, which all used similar design strategy and marketing to attract homeowners.
Model homes were marketed under names such as "The Casa Blanca", "The Espanola" and "The Versailles" to support an air of exoticism.
We can't talk about Royale Gardens without also noting the dramatic lanterns that signal the entrance to the single-street community. Designed by James Salter AIA, these lamps were created especially for use on Trailor's developments and can be easily spotted flanking the entrance to other Trailor subdivisions citywide.
The amber pattern-stamped polycarbonate diffusers and flared flat-stock lantern cages are a motif Trailor would use as a signature on other developments such as Hillcrest and Avenida Hermosa.
Conspicuously absent from the facades is any evidence of where the homeowners' cars are parked. The garages are cleverly tucked back in an exterior alleyway, out of sight from the main cul-de-sac. This allows the community to present a very clean elevation and eliminates the need for driveways.
The lack of driveways or carport features strongly supports the Old World feel, hearkening the heart back to simpler times.
It took about a decade for the concept to catch on, but condominium living made a large and lasting difference on how Phoenicians chose to live. In the economic crunch of the 1970s it became a very attractive alternative to single family home ownership. It was a smart use of land and materials, and added density to underutilized lots. Trailor smartly gathered up these odd lots and turned them into densely-packed, beautiful communities.
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Thanks to strong CC&Rs we can enjoy them today much as they appeared when they were built, but now with the benefit of mature landscaping and the hindsight of appreciation for Trailor and Haver's enduring impact on the way we live.
Sources
"'The Best of Everything' Symbolized by Gold Key in Dell Trailor Homes." Arizona Builder/Architect, March 1966, p. 5.
"Trailor Condominium Disney Feature." Scottsdale Daily Progress, 3 February 1968, p. 5.
Hernandez, Mal. "Del Trailor Picked up the Pieces: Two Subdivisions Prove Successful." The Arizona Republic, 1 October 11967, p. 4F.
