Service area · McCormick Ranch
Kitchen Remodeling in McCormick Ranch, AZ
McCormick Ranch is Scottsdale's first master-planned community, and much of it still runs on 1970s and 1980s kitchens. This page covers what a kitchen remodel needs here and how the community's review process works; call (747) 244-3289 when you want to start.
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01Good to know
What is McCormick Ranch, and when did it go up?
Scottsdale's first master-planned community, and the one that set the pattern for those that followed. Kaiser-Aetna acquired the ranch in 1970, houses went up from the early 1970s with an architectural style based on Mission Viejo, California, and the non-profit McCormick Ranch Property Owners' Association recorded its Articles of Incorporation on September 21, 1972. The community now runs 3,116 acres, from Indian Bend Road north to Shea Boulevard and from Scottsdale Road east to Hayden Road, with single-family homes, condominiums and apartments and about 24,000 residents cited at the 2022 anniversary (2022 anniversary coverage (opens in a new tab)); the association's history page cites 27,000 (MRPOA community history (opens in a new tab)). The land has its own history: the McCormicks bought Merle Cheney's 160-acre R.P. Ranch in April 1944, grew it to 4,236 acres, and sold to Kaiser-Aetna in 1970 for $12.1 million.
02Good to know
What do the original 1970s and 1980s kitchens look like?
Often closed in, at least until someone remodels. The median home in ZIP 85258 was built in 1984 (ZIP 85258 profile (opens in a new tab)), so half of the homes there date from 1984 or earlier, and the association's executive director said in 2022 that the committee reviewing exterior changes is meant to help owners bring their homes up to today's building and floor plan needs (2022 anniversary coverage (opens in a new tab)). A common wish is a room where 2 people can cook at once.
03Good to know
Does the association have to approve a remodel?
For anything visible from outside, yes. Changes to the exterior visible from the street, common areas or neighboring properties, including additions, remodels and repainting even in existing colors, require an application to the Architectural Committee and prior written approval, and no work may begin before that approval is in hand. Two conditions catch people out: an ACC approval is invalid if required city, county, state or federal permits were not obtained before work begins, and sub-association permission has to come first where one exists. The committee oversees paint colors, building styles, roofing materials, fencing and landscaping, has 3 or more members who must live in the Ranch, and meets on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month at 1:00 PM in the Ranch board room (MRPOA architectural control committee charter (opens in a new tab); MRPOA rules and regulations, PDF (opens in a new tab)). Even a pre-approved palette color needs the paint form filed first.
04Costs
How much of the community is houses, and how much is condos?
A mix, and the mix changes how a kitchen project is scoped. Roughly 60% of the land is residential, 18% commercial, and 14% lakes and golf courses, with public schools, the HonorHealth campus and city-owned property making up the rest (2022 anniversary coverage (opens in a new tab)). Inside that footprint sit single-family homes, condominiums and apartments. The census profile for ZIP 85258, which takes in the Ranch and some neighboring areas, shows the shape of it: 25,545 residents, 15,626 housing units, 7,527 detached and 3,357 attached single units, and 9,413 owner-occupied homes against 3,383 renter-occupied ones. In practice, detached houses can take a full kitchen replacement, while condos and apartments work around shared shutoffs, ventilation routes and building work hour rules. Tell us which one you are in when you call (747) 244-3289, because the plan and the timeline differ.
05Good to know
What do the lakes and greenbelt change about a kitchen here?
The water is part of the address. The Ranch has 5 lakes designated for fishing, Camelback Lake, Lake Margherite, Santa Fe Lake, Lake Nino and Lake Angela, all catch and release with artificial lures only and permits for owners and tenants, and boating is allowed on Camelback Lake and Lake Margherite (MRPOA rules and regulations, PDF (opens in a new tab)). Under the association's yard ornament rule, yards facing a lake or the golf course count as front yards (MRPOA rules and regulations, PDF (opens in a new tab)). Around it all runs 25 miles of greenbelt, in a community that counted 11 lakes and 13 shopping areas in 2022 (2022 anniversary coverage (opens in a new tab)), and McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park sits on 30 acres in the heart of Scottsdale. The golf club, designed by Desmond Muirhead, dates to the early 1970s and is open to the public.
064 questions
Questions people ask
Still have a question?
Call and describe the kitchen. Calls are answered day and night.
Call (747) 244-328901Can I open up my 1970s McCormick Ranch kitchen?
It depends on the wall. Whether a specific wall can come out is a structural question: a qualified professional and the city decide it after review, and any permit comes before the work starts.
02Do I need association approval for a kitchen remodel here?
For the inside of a house, the Architectural Committee process generally does not apply. If a change is visible from the street, common areas or a neighbor's property, it needs an application to the Architectural Committee and written approval before work begins.
03Are the cabinets in my McCormick Ranch home worth keeping?
It depends on the boxes. Square, solid frames can be refaced, keeping the layout and replacing doors and drawer fronts. Worn boxes, or a layout you want changed, argue for replacement. Either way, the answer comes from looking at the boxes themselves.
04How long does a McCormick Ranch kitchen remodel take?
Cabinet and countertop lead times set the pace, and they shift with the market. The schedule follows the actual selections. The timeline guide shows how the stages stack up.
07Keep reading
Related
- Kitchen cabinets in McCormick Ranch: replacing or refacing the original 1970s and 1980s cabinets.
- Kitchen countertops in McCormick Ranch: quartz and stone to replace tile counters.
- Service areas: see how nearby communities compare.
- Cost guide: published prices for every stage of the work.
- Kitchen cabinets: the full cabinet overview.
- Kitchen countertops: surfaces, edges and thickness explained.
