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It's not much of a stretch to consider the Catalina Foothills the Beverly Hills of Pima County. The southern foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains have been drawing the nation's wealthy to them for more than 80 years, building huge luxury homes with spectacular views of the Tucson valley. The area's rolling hills are home to three of the state's most exclusive resorts, Loews Ventana Canyon, which features incredible canyon and mountain views of the city of Tucson, the Westin La Paloma, which boasts some of the most panoramic views of the city of Tucson, and Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch and Resort, one of the world's most highly rated guest ranches. The cuisine in the resorts' restaurants have been the subject of gushing reviews in many food and travel magazines. Homes here, some having sold for more than $10 million, are frequently featured in Architecture Digest and other prestigious publications. However, despite its reputation for opulence, not everyone who lives in the Catalina Foothills community is dripping with gold and jewels. More than 50,000 people live in this unincorporated community sprinkled with fine dining and fast food establishments, banks, galleries, grocery stores, specialty shops and indoor and outdoor entertainment venues. Though property values are high, there a number of apartment complexes and smaller, affordable homes in the Foothills that make the community more egalitarian than its reputation implies. The unincorporated community is north of Tucson's city limits and stretches from First Avenue east to Sabino Canyon Road and from River Road north to the Coronado National Forest line. | CATALINA FOOTHILLS CENSUS INFORMATION | | POPULATION | 1990: 45,000 (estimate) 2000: 53.794 Median age: 45.4 18 years and over 43,090 65 years and over 10,213
| ETHNICITY | | HOUSEHOLDS | Total households 23,948 Family households 15,594 Households with individuals under 18 years 6,128 Households with individuals 65 years and over 6,858 Average household size 2.23 Average family size 2.76
| *As a percentage of white. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File |
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In the late 1920s, native Tucsonan John W. Murphey bought nearly 8,000 acres of federal and state land in the foothills far north of Tucson. Over the next 50 years, the legendary land speculator developed his land, building roads, homes, churches, schools and shopping centers. Murphey occasionally sold parcels of land, but imposed 50-year deed restrictions that limited architectural styles, colors and building heights that laid the foundation for the affluent suburb. Expansive lots and preserved natural vegetation allow bobcats, coyotes, deer, javelina, rabbits and other desert-dwelling critters to thrive here as well. It's not uncommon for Foothills residents to have to shoo-away pesky javelina rooting up gardens, or to quickly get out their camera to snap a photo of a mountain lion taking a drink from the pool. While the area boasts man-made jewels like the sculpted greens and fairways of La Paloma's championship golf course, or St. Philips in the Hills Episcopal Church, perhaps the finest example of Spanish Colonial Revival by renowned architect Josias Joseler, the Foothills is also the home to one of nature's jewels. More than one million people a year visit the breathtaking Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, at the community's northeastern edge. Its 3.8 mile paved road into the canyon offers access to Sabino Creek and a number of swimming holes, picnic areas and trailheads. Visitors can travel by foot, horseback, bicycle or shuttle (the road is closed to private vehicles). The shuttle operates year round and guides offer a history of the canyon and identify the flora and fauna, birds and rock formations. Whether it is fabulous architecture, championship golf, five-star dining, or the transcendent hikes through Sabino Canyon, the Foothills is easily a match for any of the country's high-dollar communities, including Beverly Hills. HISTORY OF CATALINA FOOTHILLS In the late 1920s, native Tucsonan John W. Murphey bought nearly 8,000 acres of federal and state land in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains far north of Tucson and began to develop them. Enough people were living in the foothills by 1931 that several of them banded together and formed the Catalina Foothills School District. The first school had nine students and met in a garage. In 1939, Murphey sold the district its first school site, 2.2 acres just north of River Road, for $10. Famous Tucson architect Josias Joesler designed the school and it was built by the federal Work Projects Administration. In 1929 Murphey built an exclusive girls school in the center of the foothills that was attended by the daughters of some of the country's wealthiest families, including the Pillsburys, Spaldings and Kelloggs. Though Joseler didn't design the original school buildings, he was the architect on several expansions in the 1930s. In the 1940s the school was converted into the Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch becoming the first of several world-class resorts to be built in the foothills. In 1936 Joesler and Murphey teamed up again to build St. Philip's in the Hills Episcopal Church, considered by many to be Joesler's crown jewel, the very epitome of the Spanish Colonial Revival movement he helped start. | While Murphey and Joesler were developing the central foothills, the western edge, closer to Casas Adobes, was first settled by William and Maria Watson in 1912. The Watsons owned a 172-acre ranch near Pima Canyon to the south of Pusch Ridge. In the 1920s the Watsons converted their working ranch into a guest ranch. It was sold in 1940s and was transformed again into the Westward Look Resort. The resort has gone through many changes and owners over the years and miraculously mixes its territorial rustic roots with world-class resort luxury. Up through the 1960s the area's hillsides continued to add large luxury homes with incredible views. In 1963, Skyline Country Club was built, providing a foothills alternative to the Tucson Country Club farther east, which was built in 1948. The two country clubs were the first of several to be built in the foothills. In the 1980s two spectacular golf resorts were built, Loews Ventana Canyon and the Westin La Paloma, which have added to the area's reputation as a wealthy and exclusive community. In 1997, an attempt to incorporate was struck down by voters and community members have beat back several attempts by Tucson to annex the area. |
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