ARIZONA'S YAVAPAI COUNTY

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"There's solid granite beneath a lot of the land around here, and there's no way you can put a septic system in granite. They used to let you blast one out, but not anymore. Your site has to pass perc tests," she said. "Then you have to be aware that the county is checkerboarded with state-owned land. People who have been crossing it for years are now being told they don't have access rights, though the state might deed those rightsfor a price."

Towns in Yavapai have adopted uniform building codes, and the county probably will shortly.

The Verde River Valley

Jerome—named for Eugene Jerome, a cousin of Winston Churchill's mother—perches precariously on a mountainside some 31 miles northwest of Prescott. Once a booming mining town (a young Pancho Villa delivered its first water from nearby Walnut Springs) and the fifth largest settlement in Arizona, it was known as "the wickedest city in the West." But when the mines closed in 1953, its population of 15,000 sank to 50. Now, attracted by the town's 233 frost-free days, twisting streets, old buildings, and growing tourist trade, 450 residents—many in arts and crafts—give the town a new life in which fine restaurants, interesting shops, and art galleries play a large part. Jerome also offers a superb view of the Verde River Valley and the San Francisco Mountains behind distant Flagstaff. Immediately below the town, the old Douglas Mansion, which "Rawhide Jimmy" Douglas built just above his Little Daisy Mine, is now Jerome State Historic Park.

Down in the 60-mile-long, 40-mile-wide Verde Valley, some 3,500 feet above sea level, you'll find many of the features that made it attractive to ancient Indians. One of the fastest-growing areas in Arizona, it's still known for good fishing and bountiful deer, antelope, turkey, elk, javelina, and game birds. By now, however, the rural areas are crisscrossed with good roads and dotted with a number of small towns and communities, such as Clarkdale, Montezuma, Page Springs, Rimrock, McGuireville, Cornville, and Camp Verde. But the center of activity is Cottonwood (population 5,025). Here you can find 26 churches, a 104-bed hospital, and a branch of Yavapai College. Though the median price of a home in Cottonwood is $69,500, a real estate agent told me he had recently sold a two-bedroom, one-bath house in "Old Cottonwood" (which I found more charming than the subdivisions and shopping centers of the new area) for $14,000. I was also told that fixer-uppers can be found in the valley in the $20,000 to $30,000 range.

Such bargains are unheard of, however, in Sedona, which lies on the northeastern edge of the valley in spectacular "red-rock country." Here, homes set against a dramatic backdrop of towering, erosion-sculpted, red sandstone are likely to start at $100,000 and skyrocket from there. This tourist/retirement town provides a fantastic market for talented artists and craftspeople. Tlaquepaque, just outside of town, is a large complex of fine shops, plazas, courtyards, and fountains, designed to look like an ideal Mexican village. Many of the buildings in Sedona have the same flavor.

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