Exuberant Design Fills Scottsdale Home With Life

By Laura Eckstein Jones

Wiseman & Gale Interiors’ Jill Anderson transforms a bland Paradise Valley abode into a personality-packed pad reflective of her client’s expressive style.

Pierre Frey’s Sunda wallpaper in Noir lines the walls of the living room, which houses a sofa covered in Designs of the Time’s orange Kuna fabric. A chandelier from Visual Comfort makes a major statement, as does a Marco Grassi piece from HOFA Gallery. Photographed by Laura Moss

Landscape architect Charlie Ray of The Green Room Collaborative utilized a salvaged specimen plant palette for the exteriors— reclaimed and salvaged native trees and plant material from the Sonoran desert. A Kettal basket chair with orange cushions fits right in. Photographed by Laura Moss

Sometimes, a huge visual transformation can take place without major construction or yearslong renovations. Such is the case with a recently completed project by Jill Anderson, a designer at esteemed Scottsdale firm Wiseman & Gale Interiors. After wrapping up a Casa Blanca condo project for her client, he decided to quickly sell the place. “He loves a project and wanted to move on to the next,” she says.

The large living room is divided into two seating areas, both grounded by rugs from David E. Adler Fine Rugs. Photographed by Laura Moss

He soon landed on a Santa Barbara-style home in Paradise Valley that backs up to Camelback Mountain. Although the home was nice, it was a bit too bland for Anderson’s client. “His goal was to give it a personality that reflected him more than just a ‘vanilla ice cream’ home,” she says. “He’s very colorful and well-dressed, well-traveled and has a great art collection. This project was all about creating an environment to house his personality and taste.”

The powder room’s Pierre Frey Ouroboros wallpaper and Four Hands mirror—both of which imply a snake motif—draw the eye in Photographed by Laura Moss

Anderson’s client ended up bringing most of the furniture from the old condo to his new home, so instead of buying lots of new pieces, she was tasked with recovering what he already had. “That actually worked to everyone’s advantage because the project was happening during COVID and it was hard to get anything big,” she explains. “But you could still get fabric, so we really got lucky in that respect.”

Vintage blue and white Mexican Talavera pottery on custom steel bases welcome guests in the entryway. Photographed by Laura Moss

Anderson got started in the great room. “We began with the floor plan because it’s such a giant room,” she says, noting that she divided the space—which is now covered in Pierre Frey’s Sunda wallpaper—into two distinct seating areas. A plaid chair from her client’s former home helped set the tone for the room. “Everything from there dominoed off of that,” she says. Her client wanted to incorporate both orange and purple in the space, something that Anderson was wary about. “I told him he’d have a Phoenix Suns living room, but he didn’t know what I was talking about,” she jokes. “His art is so saturated and colorful that it felt like everything had to have that same saturation level to make it work.”

The designer painted and mirrored the living room bar in high-gloss black paint. “We tweaked that area to make it cocktail central,” she says Photographed by Laura Moss

Anderson used her know-how to turn the space into something truly unique and elegant, with one sofa covered in orange Kuna fabric from Designs of the Time, and the other in purple fabric from Kirkby Design. A black vintage cocktail and accent tables from Coup D’Etat and a rug from David E. Adler Fine Rugs help tie things together. “The rug is neutral and creates a balanced backdrop,” she says.

Anderson gave the kitchen, still a work in progress, minor cosmetic updates— painting the island to give it definition and refinishing the island countertop. The client’s own colorful oyster plates adorn the wall. “The cabinets and stone were already in good shape,” she says. Photographed by Laura Moss

Very large with high ceilings, the primary bedroom needed a simple solution to make it seem more intimate. “It needed something to bring it down a little, so we found a really easy to live with green color that brings drama but isn’t in your face,” Anderson says of the Dunn-Edwards Denali Green paint she chose. Her client, who is a big collector of artist Hunt Slonem’s work, hung a large parrot painting he purchased above a chaise Anderson recovered in Pierre Frey’s Fredo fabric. The entryway to the primary also features works by Slonem along with snake sconces from Australia found on 1stDibs.

Dunn-Edwards Denali Green paint covers the walls in the primary bedroom, where the client’s existing chaise—aka Remy the Frenchie’s perch—was recovered in Pierre Frey’s Freddo fabric. The large painting is by Hunt Slonem. Photographed by Laura Moss

Landscape designs by Charlie Ray create a seamless connection between the outdoors and the interiors. “We utilized mostly a salvaged specimen plant palette—reclaimed/salvaged native trees and plant material from the Sonoran Desert that were carefully chosen for each location and vignette,” he says. “The exterior made a huge difference in how this house flows,” says Anderson. “Charlie did such a great job.”

A desk area in the primary bedroom. Photographed by Laura Moss

Anderson’s client loves how much his new home fits his personality. “Sometimes people are afraid to let their house reflect who they are because they feel that it needs to look a certain way,” she says. “But my client isn’t afraid of that. He’s fabulous and doesn’t need to follow someone else’s rules.”

The primary bedroom entry is lined with Phillip Jeffries Grass Roots wallpaper in olive green, and adorned with artwork by Slonem and lighting from 1stDibs. Photographed by Laura Moss

“SOMETIMES PEOPLE ARE AFRAID TO LET THEIR HOUSE REFLECT WHO THEY ARE BECAUSE THEY FEEL THAT IT NEEDS TO LOOK A CERTAIN WAY. BUT MY CLIENT ISN’T AFRAID OF THAT. HE’S FABULOUS AND DOESN’T NEED TO FOLLOW SOMEONE ELSE’S RULES.” –JILL ANDERSON

A lovely mix of outdoor furniture—including Gloster Kay lounge chairs—and colorful cushions adorn the pool area. Photographed by Laura Moss