On a hot autumn afternoon, architect Ned Sawyer and Fred Corbus sip cold drinks around the dining table in the home Corbus shares with his wife, Jan Perozeni Corbus. They’re reminiscing about the origins of Sawyer’s graceful steel and glass design for the Corbus house, which sits lightly between boulders and across a wash in North Scottsdale. Fred Corbus and Sawyer are also discussing the recent workshop addition and the
expansion of a deck, as well as plans for a detached guest house.
This architect-client relationship is warm, frank and respectful. And, if there were a Guinness World Records entry for this kind of thing, the Corbus-Sawyer partnership would likely win. They’ve been working together on the same house for more than half a
century—53 years to be exact.
The bond had its origins in the 1960s, when Corbus and his then-wife, Donna, purchased a five-acre “unbuildable” parcel in the desert not far from the old Reata Pass stagecoach stop. “I’d been driving around, four-wheeling, looking for land for six months when I came around a corner and saw this land,” remembers Corbus. “I heard a voice tell me that this was where I was going to live for the rest of my life.” With no water, no power and the nearest grocery store some 35 miles away, the property owner felt a little bad about selling “a pile of boulders,” discounting the price to $1,500 per acre.
School and careers took the couple to Hawaii and then Australia, where they also traveled to Southeast Asia and became enamored with simple, shaded pavilion-like architecture. It took until the early 1970s for the Corbuses to return to Arizona and start the design process for a home on the site. “I knew conceptually what I wanted, “remembers Corbus. “We found five local houses we liked and knocked on doors asking about the architect.” The knocking led to modernist Al Beadle, who declined the project but suggested they talk to Sawyer, who was starting his career in Beadle’s office.
Sawyer came up with a simple, 1,300-square-foot plan based on eight-foot modules for scale and consistency, with floor-to-ceiling glass walls that captured the nature of the site. It was Sawyer’s first stamped project as a newly minted, registered architect. But actually, building the house proved to be a challenge. “Nobody would loan me money for the project,” says Corbus, “and I went to more than a dozen banks. I had to start building it myself, with my own money, framing it until I finally got the money to enclose the house.”
When the initial phase of the house was completed, it won many national, regional and local design awards, launching Sawyer’s career. He soon returned to add on two eight-by-eight modules for the couple’s two children, born after the initial design. Some ten years ago, Sawyer returned again, working with both Jan and Fred Corbus to expand the kitchen, add on a larger living room and redo the bathroom. More recently, Sawyer oversaw the workshop addition and deck expansion, designed to capture north-facing views and to incorporate boulders.
“We’ve had a long, trusting relationship in terms of honesty and feedback,” remarks Corbus, 85, of Sawyer, who’s 81. “I’ll propose something, and Ned will tell me it’s wrong or vice-versa. He listens.”
“I’m not designing my house for me,” says Sawyer of his approach. “I’m designing a house for Fred and Jan. Sometimes, Fred wants to know why we do something, and I have to tell him that it just looks better that way.”
Why does Corbus keep going back to Sawyer? “He knows me, he knows the property. Ned can see what could go there and he captures the magic. He’s also been up here for parties and sees how well the house works. People migrate to different areas and have a series of experiences in the house.”
And then there’s the guest house, to be built downhill, a bit closer to the main road. “The design process is ongoing,” says Sawyer. “We have a great relationship. I enjoy the process and like a client who wants good architecture.”