By Candace Taylor | The Wall Street Journal
Sisters Melanie Folz and Mary Heitmann have always been close. But over the years, when Ms. Folz and her children visited the Heitmann family at their house in Arizona, “there weren’t enough bathrooms” for all five of the sisters’ children, explained Ms. Heitmann’s husband, Mike Heitmann. “The kids would be arguing about who got to shower first.”
While that is a standard gripe from families sharing close quarters, their solution to the problem was anything but: Ms. Folz and her husband, Roland Folz, decided to custom-build a sprawling house in Paradise Valley, Ariz., specifically designed for both families to live in. “We wanted a big place where the cousins could be together,” said Ms. Folz, 53.
Completed in 2017, the resulting stucco, glass and steel house spans about 10,000 square feet with seven bedrooms—including two master suites—plus a pool cabana that doubles as sleeping quarters. And there are 12 toilets. “Now everyone has their own bathroom,” said Ms. Heitmann, 55.
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