Erected from scratch on a never-before-built-upon teardrop lot off Camelback Road and 56th Street in Arcadia, this is one of those rare luxury residences built with family functionality as priority No. 1. Luxury home builder Brett Brimley and his architect drew the initial sketches of his vision on a cocktail napkin. Amazingly, those unorthodox bar room drawings came to fruition into what Brimley, who lived in the home with his family for two and a half years, calls his favorite house.

The north side was designed for adult use, the middle for entertaining and the south side for children. As you approach the glass double door entrance, you can see through the entry and out a window wall to the magnificent centrally located pool, which uses a front spillover to create a floating effect. Because the home sits so close to Camelback Road, street noise was a major concern. Brimley defused the situation with multiple water features installed throughout the home. “We had to make sure that the home wasn’t impacted by Camelback,” says Brimley. “That’s why all the entertaining areas are in the middle and back. We did extra sound-proofing and the water features really work well.” Indeed, standing in the entry you can’t hear a single car whizzing by.

This is the second home that Brimley has built in the Arcadia enclave of Los Vecinos. One is very modern while this one is more of a soft contemporary. “We wanted a distinctive family home that has that ‘wow’ factor yet wears well with the kids and lets everyone in the family feel like they own a part of the house,” Brimley says. In another family friendly move, the floor plan was oriented in such a way that nearly every room has a view of the pool, allowing young children to be watched. Jay and Christine Wisniewski, owners of Café Boa in Tempe, bought the house this spring and after summering out of state, are just now beginning to settle in. Christine enjoys the master suite with its twin granite-clad vanities, morning kitchen, laundry, walk-in shower, spa-style tub and 500-square-foot closet with more storage solutions than a Home Depot.

The signature feature for the man of the house has to be the professional garage with its authentic glass shop doors, full work bench, epoxy chip floor, surround sound, air conditioning, recessed television, refrigerator and drive thru wash area. “This was the first house that I built for me and my family to live in and enjoy,” says Brimley. “If I could make this house work on another lot I’d replicate it in a second.”