If you like tile you'll love today's estate in Paradise Valley, Arizona. This Spanish-style home on over four acres features tile floors, tile fireplace surrounds and tile details on walls and counters. The tile is offset by adobe walls and heavy beamed ceilings. The home has five bedrooms, a family room with a tiled bar, a wine vault, large kitchen and media room. The property includes a one-bedroom guest house and pool. It is listed at $11.9 million.

Shaquille O'Neal's name doesn't seem to have done much for selling his own home but maybe his former rental will have better luck. Shaq finally sold his Miami home after it had been on the market for years getting $2 million less than he paid for it and just about half of his original $32 million asking price. A home that he rented in Paradise Valley, Arizona has gone through a deep price cut too. Both Shaquille O'Neal and Emmitt Smith did each rent this large house for a year. Shaquille O'Neal recently moved out with his family.

The five-bedroom home was built in 2002 and has approximately 8981 square feet of space. The grounds include a pool and there is a master bath that features a tub that might even have been large enough for Shaq. The home is on a two-acre lot and is located near golf courses and restaurants. The listing agent reports that the home was originally offered at $6.5 million but it can now be had for $3.6 million.

[Thanks, Mika]

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Paradise Valley Arizona real estate hits a new level of desperation with the offer of a free 2009 Bentley Continental GT with the purchase of one of two multimillion-dollar custom homes. Five Star Development will give a Bentley Continental GT starting at $198,000 to the buyer of either of two homes, one listed at $4.995 million, the other listed at $3.995 million. The listings are with George Hajjar of The Hajjar Group with Realty Executives and he promises that the realtor who sells either of the homes will also receive the Breitling Bentley GT Chronograph Steel watch (for men) that retails for $7,695 or a Cartier Pasha watch (for women) that retails for $5,150. An open house is being held two consecutive weekends in January, Jan. 10-11 and Jan. 17-18. at both homes with the Bentley GT on display.

[via KPHO]

Usually when I see a brand new home this peculiar on the market, I think only one thing, someone was building it for themselves and something happened. It's hard for me to believe that any developer with any sort of savvy would create this home in Paradise Valley, Arizona. The property is on two acres in the pricey and posh La Place enclave. The 17,000 square foot residence looks like a medieval hall updated for modern times. There are some very intricate and expensive details such as the handcarved dome and the flooring design. The heavy stone, the huge fireplaces, the dark wood, the strange stone herms placed under a chandelier and the elaborate ceilings just seem a bit much for a desert community. And it doesn't seem fully completed, several photos show signs of work not yet completed with exposed wires and insulation. It is listed at $17.995 million. and doesn't even look to have a pool yet.

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The massive $1.5 billion development planned by the Ritz-Carlton in Paradise Valley, Arizona has received approval to build, making it the first luxury resort master-planned community of its kind in the world under The Ritz-Carlton brand. The approved 110 acres of the 123-acre development includes a 225-room Ritz-Carlton hotel surrounded by a residential community of single-family homes which will include villas, estate homes and one-acre estate homesites all under the Ritz-Carlton name. Community residents will get membership in The Ritz-Carlton Residences Program, including access to the hotel's services and amenities including the day spa, fitness center, private chef service, an around-the-clock concierge team, room service and valet parking.

An adjoining mixed-use component along the Scottsdale portion of the site is planned to include high-end retail, restaurants, residential and a proposed "Edition" hotel, the new boutique hotel brand by Ian Schrager and Marriott International. Prices for the whole-ownership residences will start in the low $2 millions and they are currently taking expressions of interest to purchase in advance of sales expected in early June. As we mentioned yesterday, Paradise Valley remains the hottest area of Arizona real estate.

For the next couple of weeks we will be checking out some homes in the most expensive zip codes in the United States, up today, 85253 . This zip code refers to Paradise Valley, Arizona. This small town in the Phoenix metropolitan area is home to a number of golf resorts and hotels and has become a popular warm weather destination for the affluent.

This particular area with a bumper crop of new lavish homes has a median price of $1,980,000 and an appreciation rate of 266% since 1990. We've featured a variety of homes in the area. One of the most intriguing in the area is the McCune mansion, the heir to the Hormel fortune recently owned this massive home which is over 50,000 square feet total. The property is a fantastic white elephant, it was originally listed at $25 million and now sits at $17 million. Much of the real estate in the area is given over to faux Spanish haciendas with lots of beige and stone arches. There is also a smattering of contemporary architecture like this beauty by Bud Fonce,

Today's home is less extravagant and seems more charmingly livable than others I've seen in the area. It is located in Invergordon Heights which sits between the Mummy and Camelback mountains. It has a more traditional feel with warm woodwork, wainscotting, crown and baseboard moldings, wrapped columns and a floating staircase, There are six-bedrooms total including a master bedroom with a exercise room.The children's wing features a bonus area and the downstairs theater easily seats 20. There is also a pool and a guest house. This home is listed at $6 million.

Perhaps because I recently spent time in Southern Arizona. my first thoughts on seeing this Paradise Valley estate was wow, that's a lot of water they are using. The huge 16,237 square foot, seven-bedroom home is a surrounded by lush green grass, a large 90-foot pool and a lake which is fed by the property's private well. The home itself is the high-end iteration of the usual faux Mediterranean that is seen in the area. What sets it apart, besides the high pricetag, is the expansive outdoor space that includes an interior courtyard, lanai, rose gardens and that tranquil columned pool. It is listed at $12.95 million making it one of the most expensive homes on the market in Arizona.

A post on Celebrity Big Time listings led me to an Arizona Republic article that reported this week that the incomparable Stevie Nicks has put her Paradise Valley, Arizona home on the market. NIcks has owned the house since 1981 (although oddly enough the listing says it was built in 1983). She told the Arizona Republic that she is moving into "a rock-and-roll penthouse" in Santa Monica. She did add that she had written many famous songs there and that the home had been home to all sorts of rock-and-roll behavior. Nicks has recently busied herself with helping soldiers injured in Iraq, giving them music-filled iPods and raising money for medical aid such as prosthetic limbs. The five-bedroom and seven-bathroom home has two wings and a pool/spa area. It's not as magical or mystical as I might expect a Stevie Nicks home to be but it has its charms, including a library with built-in bookcases and a tranquil mountain view. It is listed at $3.8 million. After the jump, ah, if these walls could sing.

I am a sucker for a good real estate story and today's estate definitely has one. The McCune mansion which was built in the 1960s by an oil tycoon, Walker McCune, has 53,000 square feet of space and sits on six hilltop acres. The home was most recently owned by the eccentric Geordie Hormel, heir to the Hormel Foods fortune. Hormel who died last year, was a successful music producer in Los Angeles and also owned the Wrigley Mansion in Chicago. The home has a ballroom with a giant crystal chandelier, multiple kitchens, an ice-skating rink, 150-seat theater, dark room, beauty salon and more. The home was originally listed at $25 million. It sits now at $20 million but I bet it might go much lower. Especially since the home is said to be in fixer-upper shape. After the jump, what can be done with this massive home?

Just a couple of years ago, around $12 million was considered a huge price for Paradise Valley, Arizona. But times have changed and the homes have gotten larger and more expensive. This four-bedroom home was a total of nine years in the making and was created by La Casa Builders. It sits on five acres with views of the city skyline and Camelback Mountain and there is a putting green and sand trap, dog park, outdoor cabana and a negative edge pool with a swim-up bar. The 8,700 square foot home is sprawled out over a single story and has amazing custom cabinetry and art glass details. Silvered walls, marble baths and Chinese granite floors contribute to the unique look. It is listed at $16.65 million. After the jump, check out the suspended glass cabinet.

The Hollis home in Paradise Valley Arizona was created for Don and Marilyn Hollis by architect Randall Fonce. The concrete and glass home has a wrap-around portico and was designed to be a suspended glass pavilion in the desert. Built for a semi-retired couple, the home has just two bedrooms in a 5,700-square-foot main residence but there is also an attached three bedroom guest house. Amenities include a heated pool, exercise room, two fireplaces, barbecue pit and a wine cellar. It even has a special area for pets that includes a flushable toliet The Wall Street Journal profiled it a while back as their estate of the week and since then the price has been reduced by $500,000 to $7.5 million. After the jump, and your little dog too.

The Arizona Republic reports that the hotels in Paradise Valley's "resort row" are heading for some big changes. The hotels along Lincoln Drive are spending a total of almost $500 million on various projects between now and 2008. Here's a breakdown of what's going on:
 
--Crown Realty & Development demolished the La Posada Resort and plans to build the $230 million Montelucia Resort, Spa and Residences in its place. They are also hoping to replace the  old Mountain Shadows Resort with a $200 million property.
 --Camelback Inn, a Marriott Resort & Spa, will spend $40 million to update its guestrooms, overhaul its restaurants and the ballroom.
--Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain and Hermosa Inn are also updating their guest rooms

It is expected that the upgrades will lead to higher rates and also hopefully to a raised profile for Paradise Valley as a resort destination. The area is already famed for its high-end real estate which makes the building of resorts problematic since neighbors want to make sure that the resorts don't change the quality of life in the area.

Much of the architecture in Paradise Valley is of the Southwestern or Mediterranean type but this stunner of a home is all contemporary. Casa di Vento sits on a five-acre plot in guard-gated Clearwater Hills. The 10,025-square-foot steel and glass home has flame-finished piasentina stone and teak wood flooring, hand-carved burl stone sinks, glass tile pools and all sorts of custom details. Massive walls of glass frame the views of the desert and the home has an open floor plan with a spacious living room, dining room, kitchen with Miele appliances and a sleek media room with lights that seem integrated into the wood walls. The second level includes a loft/library area and a morning kitchen. There is a master suite plus four bedrooms in the main house and there is also a guesthouse. There is plenty of outdoor space including a wedge-shaped spa that is away from the pool area and has beautiful valley views. The new home also has state-of-the-art automation so you can control all of the home's systems remotely. It is listed at $11.8 million. Shots of the ultra-modern interior after the jump.