Water features have central role in luxury homes

In the desert, nothing holds your attention, captures your imagination and calms your spirit like running water.

Dan Coletti of Sun West Custom Homes knows water features, elegant pools and the optimal ways to bring water’s tranquility and serenity to your door and beyond.

Of the largest, most magnificent homes ever constructed in Southern Nevada, Coletti has built the lion’s share — and water, specifically water in dynamic motion, has a central role in nearly all of them.

What makes Coletti’s approach so different is that all of the water features running through his homes flow into, through and around the pool. The effect is stunning. A swimming pool organically flows indoors through running streams, evolving into waterfalls before forming an infinity-edge that frames some of the most spectacular views in the Las Vegas Valley.

“Flowing water changes the energy in the home immediately. We have become expert in its use because it is our go-to element,” Coletti said. “When you combine it with fire pits as part of the view, it becomes mesmerizing. Some have called it nature’s own television, and I couldn’t agree more. Within minutes of watching moving water and the waterfalls in our homes, you can just feel the stress dropping away. Guests are invariably drawn to it. It always, and I mean always, leaves a lasting impression.”

While some designs use water features generously throughout, many of Coletti’s creations appear to have the home built around the water features. A bridge at a doorway that you pass over to enter, streams that channel into waterfalls with 15-foot drops once you are inside — these are just some of the creations that Coletti’s team at Sun West Custom Homes has brought to reality.

Because so many of Coletti’s homes are built on spectacular view lots, backyard pools take on an entirely new importance. Aside from the pools themselves, there are the rush of water cascading through streams, spas, seating areas with fully equipped swim-up bars below the water’s rim, and seating areas that hover at the water’s edge.

Part of the challenge of building a world-class home in Southern Nevada is recognizing that the summer months can create many challenges that must be addressed. Experience has taught Coletti not to try to simply push back against the heat, but to use nature to work with the climate to integrate the home into its surroundings.

“We will often use the waterfall’s cooling on the lower floor to channel cooled air up staircases, creating an organic breezeway that travels to the main floor, pushing warmer air to baffles that allow the warmest air in the home to escape,” Coletti said. “It keeps the air moving and it has a crisp note that energizes the entire home. Our clients love the effect.”

It is the water and its magical properties, along with Coletti’s meticulous attention to the design, planning and construction process, that make Sun West Custom Homes so unique.

Waters Edge at MacDonald Highlands won four awards in the 2017 Silver Nugget Awards, including Home of the Year.

The show home is in MacDonald Highlands, major cross streets are Valle Verde Drive and Horizon Ridge Parkway in Henderson. The home is open daily 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on Mondays. Call the sales office at 702-616-3030.

For more information please visit sunwestcustomhomes.com.

Sun West Custom Homes LLC specializes in spectacular estate homes valued at more than $2 million. Every buyer works with Coletti, a second-generation builder, who learned the business from his mother, Cynthia Coletti.

Each home is assigned an executive building team construction project manager, an interior designer, a project coordination and an onsite superintendent. Sun West Custom Homes has been building the most extraordinary homes in the Las Vegas Valley since 1989.