Casa Blanca is one of the finest communities in Scottsdale, one with a fascinating history and blessed with a unique architectural character. An artist from the East Coast, Donald Kellogg, built his home in the late 1930’s which consisted of what is now units 1 through 10, on 85 acres of desert. The property stretched from what is now Jackrabbit Road in the north to Camelback Road in the south, and from 66th Street in the west to 68th Street in the east.
Unfortunately, Mr Kellogg died shortly after the home was completed. Ownership passed in 1943 to George Borg, inventor of the automatic transmission and many other accessories. He wanted a winter home for himself, since the guests at the resort he usually stayed complained about his drinking habits. In 1943 George Borg wanted a place where the Borg Warner executives could stay, so he… “added a wing for them” – a dining room with a Moorish dome and a bar by the existing swimming pool. The Minaret was a landmark in Scottsdale and had many pet names including Mr. Borg’s Nightcap, the Hershey Kiss and the Peeled Onion.
Later, he added a 2600 foot airstrip so that his wife could fly her plane out, with her pilot, from Wisconsin. Mrs. Borg also raised horses, so the stables were built for her famed Palominos. The pastures were surrounded by tennis and shuffleboard court
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By the time Royal and Patty Treadway took over the property in the mid- 1950’s, it had 45 rooms. They sold all but 20 acres and started to co-develop what is now Casa Blanca Estates, which became the first gated residential community in Scottsdale.
In 1968, the Treadways sold the rooms to Bernard McDonough, the owner of Dromoland Castle in Ireland, who added 45 rooms that summer. He soon turned over the operation of the resort to Ramada Inns which kept it going until the property was sold to the group, including John Gardner, which began the redevelopment of Phase I in 1981.
Many of the outlying casitas were removed and the remaining building remodeled to become the 37 units now existing. Phase II was completed with 38 homes in the mid-1980’s but sales slowed as the real estate market collapsed. The original group (John Gardner had pulled out early) called it quits on developing the third phase so the land sat vacant for over half a decade until construction started in 1990 on Phase III, also with 38 homes.
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