Jim Davis / Arizona Daily Star

More Photos (1):

Other articles by Christie Smythe:

Christie Smythe: Former 'Ugly house' franchise settles suitTucson firm accused of 'deceptive tactics' in foreclosure rescuesLocal builder Pathway files for Chapter 7 bankruptcyTucson's Pathway Developments files for bankruptcy liquidationArizona mortgage failures fuel crisisShovels poised at South Side shopping centerReal Estate by Christie Smythe: Housing slide cuts antique door salesTucson office market in cooldownTucson's median home price plunges by 7.5 percentPhoenix-area lender to add Tucson firm

Health Care
CENTRAL ARIZONA COLLEGE
DIRECTOR OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT Finance and Accounting
Charles E. Gillman Company
Accounting Specialist Trades/Construction
RANCHO RESORT
MAINTANANCE POSITION Health Care
Dependable Health Services
Physical Therapists Administrative & Professional
Tucson Urban League
CEO/President Construction
West-Press
Printing Mechanical
Komatsu Equipment Co
Resident Field Mechanic

It's not the best of times for either the real estate market or the art market, but a local art gallery and a luxury-home builder have decided they could improve their circumstances by partnering up.

Nestled in the hills in Dove Mountain's Canyon Pass development in Marana, a new house built by Bob Christadore is filled with more than 50 works of art supplied by The Gallery at 6th & 6th.

The artwork includes a sculpture of a figure in a reclining pose near the pool, by Tucson artist Curt Brill; numerous modernist and abstract paintings; and a mural of sorts fashioned out of hand-cast resin flowers and assembled on site by the artist, Carson Fox, who lives in New York.

"I think the sculpture out by the pool was made for that spot," said the gallery's associate director, Debra Bahr, who was helping to set up the artwork last Friday in preparation for an exhibition that was held on Sunday.

Christadore said he hopes that he can find a buyer for the house by holding art exhibitions there. The gated Canyon Pass community allows guests in by invitation only, making the usual type of open house impossible, he said.

The asking price for the 5,000-square-foot house is $4.25 million — or $4.5 million with the art included, which Christadore said would be a bargain for the buyer. Individual pieces are priced between about $1,000 and $55,000; the highest-priced one is a large work by a notable modernist painter Ulfert Wilke, Bahr said.

The artwork makes the contemporary-style house look more appealing to high-end home buyers, Christadore said. Artists also appreciate having their work displayed in a home, which might allow people to picture owning the works themselves, gallery owner Lauren Rabb said.

"The house was built to entertain," Christadore said. "What they did is invaluable."

Many people who attended Sunday's event expressed interest in the artwork and the house, but there have been no offers for either, Christadore and Rabb said.

Tucson's high-end home market has remained relatively strong through much of the housing slump. But even so, builders and real estate agents are turning to more creative tactics, such as art exhibitions, to sell luxury houses.

Last November, real estate agent Mary Lou Thompson, of Avalar Advantage Realty, enhanced an open house for a $2.6 million Pima Canyon property by arranging to have R. Carlos Nakai, a Grammy-nominated Indian flute player, perform at the event.

The open house was a success, attracting more than 100 people, Thompson said. The house is now under contract, she said.

Thompson said she also has tried to combine art shows with open houses.

"Art can be a really great way to bring people in," she said.

Meanwhile, back at the speculative house built by Christadore, one of the artists arranging displays at the property last week said he saw a natural fit in such mergers of home and art shows.

"When I'm making this work, this is the kind of house I envision it in," said Mark Pomilio, a painter who lives in the Phoenix area and teaches at Arizona State University.

Find the latest news on the local real estate market at www.AzStarBiz.com.