There are 108 homes
in Catalina Pueblo. They were designed and built in three stages during the 1970's by Don Maxon. Although each home here
is based upon one of six different basic designs each one was altered to be unique unto itself and, in fact, no two homes
here are exactly alike, either on the inside or out.
Don Maxon is
nationally recognized for land planning, designing and promotion. He was named one of the top ten community developers in
the United States by the federal government. He was a member of the prestigious "President's Club" under both Kennedy &
Johnson. Don was also the first person in the history of the United States to cause a waste-dump from mines to be landscaped.
His Anaconda Mine project, just south of Tucson, is the largest earth moving job in history even surpassing the Panama Canal.
Starting with barren
desert, in the 1960’s, Maxon designed and built Green Valley, a community of about 15,000 people, south of Tucson.
Soon thereafter,
he set his sights on a smaller more personal project. He wanted to design and build a planned community of townhomes
that was unlike any other. Planned communities, almost by definition, produce homes that are indistinguishable from one another.
The challenge Don undertook for Catalina Pueblo was to give each home the aura of individuality, of appearing to stand alone
and be different from every other unit in the community. This was a novel concept and no small feat to achieve.
He accomplished his
vision so skillfully, however, that Catalina Pueblos has won numerous national awards for outstanding design. And, possibly the most obvious evidence of design success is that the designer himself chose to live here.
Don and his new bride, Luanne moved into one of the first model homes in 1971. Several years later, they moved to another
townhome on Maria where Luanne lives still. Don passed away in 2007 but his legacy lives on.
As you scroll down
this page, you will see random photos of just some of the beautiful homes in the Catalina Pueblo.