Inside the ninth-floor condo created by architect David Hovey, Jr., floor-to-ceiling windows perfectly frame views of the McDowell Mountains and provide glimpses of planes landing at the nearby Scottsdale airport. Balconies offer desert breezes and bird’s-eye views of the urban hubbub below. The backdrop inspired interior designer Lissa Lee Hickman to create a luxurious, tone-one-tone aerie that’s a calming setting for its owners.

The 3,100-square-foot, three-bedroom North Scottsdale residence was designed by Hickman for a couple, with adult children, who has vacationed in Scottsdale for years. “I did their previous home,” says Hickman, who opened her own firm in 2006. “They decided they didn’t want to maintain a big single-family house, so they were looking for a lock-and-leave condo.”