Falcon Nest facts for kids

The Falcon Nest is a very tall house located in Prescott, Arizona. It is known as the tallest single-family home in North America, standing at 124 feet (38 m) (about 12 stories high!). Its name comes from how it looks, like a big bird's nest on a mountainside. Also, peregrine falcons live in the area. This unique home is in Yavapai County, Arizona, about a two-hour drive from Phoenix, the capital of Arizona.

Building the Falcon Nest

Thumb Butte, a famous landmark near Prescott, in June 2007.

This amazing house is 6,200 square feet (580 m²) in size. It was designed by an architect named Sukumar Pal for himself. The Falcon Nest was built in 1994 and cost about $3.5 million.

It sits on the slopes of Thumb Butte. This is a well-known mountain in the Sierra Prieta range, part of the Prescott National Forest. Thumb Butte is a popular spot for hiking. It's a 6,514-foot (1,985 m) tall rock formation, like a giant natural pillar.

Sukumar Pal chose the name "Falcon Nest" because falcons usually build their nests lower down than eagles. Since his house is below the very top of Thumb Butte, the name fit perfectly. The house is built at an elevation of about 5,920 feet (1,800 m).

How the Falcon Nest is Designed

Even though the house is very large, its base is a square that is only 24 by 24 feet (7.3 m × 7.3 m). The house gets its size by spreading out vertically over ten stories!

Much of the main floor sticks out from the center of the house. It looks like large, enclosed balconies on all four sides. This part of the house is 2,000-square-foot (190 m²) and is built like a sunroom with glass walls and a glass roof.

Inside this main area, there are two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a large living space called a great room. There's also a third bedroom and two more bathrooms on other levels.

The Falcon Nest is 124 feet (38 m) tall. Normally, local rules wouldn't allow such a tall house. But the design is clever:

• The lowest two floors are considered basement levels.
• Three floors are living spaces.
• The rest of the height is part of a special system. This system helps cool the house naturally with air currents (called convective cooling). It also warms the house using sunlight (called passive solar heating).

An elevator takes you from the ground floor up to the main living area on the sixth floor. If you prefer, there are 135 stairs to reach the upper floors.

While the Falcon Nest is the tallest single-family home in North America, it's much shorter than the world's tallest private home, the Antilia in South Mumbai, India, which is about 560 foot (170 m) tall.

The Falcon Nest is built right on natural granite rock. It stays in place mostly by its own weight, without needing extra attachments. The architect says this design helps protect the house if there's an earthquake.

Amazing Views from the Nest

The architect looked at hundreds of places before choosing the spot on Thumb Butte. This 1 acre (0.40 ha) piece of land offers incredible views in many directions. Also, other places had rules that would have stopped such a tall building from being built.

Because of this house, the rules for building height in Prescott were changed. A house like the Falcon Nest could not be built there today. After it was built, Prescott changed its zoning laws to limit homes to 35 feet (11 m) from the lowest ground level.

From the Falcon Nest, you can see for up to 120 miles (190 km)! You can even see far-off mountains like the San Francisco Peaks, Humphrey's Peak, and Bill Williams Mountain. The land right next to the house on its western side is part of the Prescott National Forest.

New Owners

The Falcon Nest was put up for sale in 2015 for $2.8 million. It was listed again in 2017 for $1.5 million. Besides being a home, it was suggested it could be used as a place for learning, offices, a museum, or even for events.

After an attempt to sell it by auction didn't work out, it was listed again for $2.8 million in August 2017. Finally, on March 29, 2018, the house was sold to Ernst Wilhelm, who is an astrologer, and Srishti Wilhelm, who is an artist. They use it as both their home and their office.

Falcon Nest in the Media

The Falcon Nest has been featured on TV and in magazines because of its unique design:

• In 1994, it was shown on the TV show Extreme Homes on the HGTV network.
• It was featured as "House of the Day" in The Wall Street Journal newspaper on May 6, 2015.
• The April 2017 issue of greenliving AZ magazine also had an article about the house.