Sherwood Heights and Fairway Park
Featuring homes by D.D. Castleberry
Documentation hasn't emerged yet about who the architect of Sherwood Heights and Fairway Park homes was (and we're certain it was more than one) but one thing many modernists can agree on is that they are two of Phoenix Metro's most beautiful residential neighborhoods. The development was populated in the mid 1950s and leveraged the national all-electric home campaign to draw attention to the state of the art homebuilding practices. The home still stands today and was featured with another Castleberry home on our 2015 Home Tour. 
The views of the Papago Peaks are spectacular — and even though the subdivision is surrounded by commercial development and other less remarkable subdivisions, Sherwood Heights retains its mature desert landscaping in a style not often seen in the central core and more typically found in Paradise Valley and far North Scottsdale.
Photo: Leland Gebhardt
Through community action in 2003, the neighborhood convinced the Scottsdale City Council to restrict the height of home remodels, bringing them one step closer to qualifying for historic designation in the long term by deterring teardowns and McMansion scale remodels.
While some may call a Conservation District zoning ordinance or the 2003 Sherwood Heights PRD overlay "preservation lite" it is incremental character-preserving actions like this that could help maintain neighborhood character and stave off rapid development as longer term considerations are made in many of Phoenix's emerging historic modern neighborhoods. If your neighborhood isn't ready for Historic Preservation yet but you're worried about development, ask your local HP officer about a PRD or Conservation District.
Photo: Leland Gebhardt