As part of the Last Resorts series, The Show is exploring architectural elements from Phoenix’s iconic resort past that still exist.
The Casa Blanca Inn was built near Chaparral Road and 66th Street in Scottsdale about 100 years ago.
The property began as the winter home of the Kellogg family before its eventual transformation into a Moroccan-themed resort, complete with an onion-domed restaurant, the Sultan's Table. The Casa Blanca Inn still stands today. In the 1980s, it was converted into a collection of private luxury residences built on the site by architect George Christensen.
The Show met up with Scott Jarson, a longtime realtor in the Valley who specializes in architecturally unique properties, to walk around the grounds of the former Casa Blanca Inn.
Reflecting on the history and architecture of the inn
SCOTT JARSON: This is just such a special property, because there's so much history here. It was originally built in the 1920s. The architect was R.T. Evans. He did a lot of really fabulous adobe homes in and around the area.
What you're seeing here with the Camelback Mountain backdrop is the original house for the Kellogg family that was built in the 1920s. And it was shaped sort of ... in an embrace around this courtyard, which is now the beautiful rose garden. So if you think oasis in the desert we're in this beautiful green space, tons of roses surrounded by citrus trees, and a real resort feel. So they lived a really gracious winter getaway life, here like a lot of others who came from the Midwest for health and just get away from the snow and to kind of reset their lives.
In the 1940s, this property sold to Borg Warner Corporation, and the Borg family used it as a winter getaway, also corporate retreat. They put in a private air field. If you can imagine people flying in here. And what kind of desert hijinks they might get up to. But the Borgs were really good caretakers. They were the first ones to introduce this Moroccan theme. Interestingly, they bought it in the '40s, so maybe the "Casablanca" movie had a little something to do with it, but they're the ones that named it Casa Blanca. And they built this dome structure, which you see, with this onion dome that just looks so sort of Moroccan-influenced, and that segued into the resort history.
After the Borgs had it, and it sold into a corporation that ran it as a resort. A lot of things that the Borgs ... got incorporated into the more resort lifestyle that you'll find here. This pool ... has something that was seen a lot in these desert resorts. You can see this sort of glass screen that we're looking at here. This was a windbreak that would surround the pool in those days. Very, very common to see them. And I think they really just kept really, frankly, dust storms and desert winds from disturbing people as they sat, sat by the pool, kept the noise down for the guests.
And what I love about it is that in this exact location, there's several really great print ads from the 1950s that show models and great sort of Arizona dresses right at this very location. So the history is everywhere you see here. It's a really genuine property still.
It has rich architecture from R.T. Evans.
The original structures really celebrated and not demolished. ... Even as it developed in the future, they brought in a really world-class architect. And I think that it just shows. There's integrity in all these structures.
This is how you would enter it as a resort, that was your lobby and check in. And right adjacent, there's this rectangular building castellated on top. Looks like it just came out of out of Morocco with this beautiful, stunning, white onion dome on top that centered right over what was called the Sultan's Table restaurant. And it was an event to go to this place. I can remember going with my family several times, and it always felt like you were taking a journey someplace else just to go have dinner. It was really fun.
It was so romantic and so interesting, because if you manage it through the eyes of a 8-, 9-, 10-year-old, you're being able to be brought to another world. You're also able to connect with a piece of Arizona that — and see it through the eyes of people who visit here, which I think was really important. But, the the signature romance of these places, they all had their individual character. And so to be able to come to the Sultan's Table to have a family dinner on a Sunday, just almost meant like a mini vacation. And especially as these resorts started to stay open in the summer — most of them closed when the heat came on. But as a local, you could get those shoulder months and come in here, no crowds, complete service. It was a lot of fun.
