The 50,000-sf clubhouse at Silverleaf, part of a golf course community at DC Ranch, is a continent away in design from the southwestern-style architecture that dots the surrounding desert. Its completion in October 2004 will mark a melding of modernism with tradition that has rarely been seen in the Southwest. "It's very dramatic," Eric Linthicum, president of Linthicum Custom Builders, tells GlobeSt.com of the multi-million-dollar project, the centerpiece of Silverleaf, a gated enclave.

Designed by Don Ziebell, president of Oz Architects Inc. of Scottsdale, and built by Linthicum, the clubhouse is based on rural Mediterranean-style that invokes the feeling of rural hillside villages. "The building will feel like an old Italian estate and what will make it so believable is that most of the materials are authentic," said Linthicum. "When you're around a building like that, you can touch these old authentic materials and believe you are around a building that has been there a couple 100 years."

To accomplish that feeling of authenticity, Linthicum began importing building materials, including reclaimed cobblestones and 200-year-old roof tiles from a French castle, six months ago. It will continue importing the supplies for the next 12 months.