WINDSHIELD REPLACEMENT CAREFREE

Carefree, a master-planned community created in the middle of the 1950s by business partners K.T. Palmer and Tom Darlington, is known as an upscale[4] residential area. In 1955, land sales began, and in 1958, construction of homes. In order to prevent Scottsdale from annexing Carefree, the community became incorporated in 1984.

Carefree is located in northeastern Maricopa County and is bordered to the south, east, and west by the towns of Cave Creek and Scottsdale. It’s common to consider Carefree and Cave Creek as one place. [6] The local landmark Black Mountain, which rises more than 1,000 feet (300 m) over the two towns at a height of 3,398 feet, is a shared feature of both communities (1,036 m).

The town has a total area of 8.8 square miles (23 km2), of which 0.004 square miles (0.010 km2), or 0.05 percent, are listed as being water.

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Carefree is positioned closer to the rain-catching central mountains of Arizona than Phoenix, which results in it receiving almost 70% (or 5.3 inches or 135 millimeters) more rainfall annually. Carefree has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen BSh), with hot summers and moderate winters. A total of 141 afternoons every year have highs of at least 90 °F (32.2 °C), 63.4 afternoons have highs of at least 100 °F (37.5 °C), and three afternoons have highs of over 110 °F (43.3 °C). The coldest recorded temperature in Carefree was 15 °F or 9.4 °C on January 13, 1963 and January 7, 1971. 8.3 mornings will be below freezing during the winter. Despite being rare, snowfall is possible. On February 22, 2019, 3-6 inches of snow, depending on height, were measured for the last time. The wettest month on record is January 1993 with 9.37 inches (238.0 mm), which contributed to a record “rain year” total of 26.20 inches (665.5 mm) between July 1992 and June 1993. By contrast, only 6.98 inches (177.3 mm) was recorded between July 1962 and June 1963. Rainfall is occasionally heavy during winter fronts or monsoonal storms.

The Carefree sundial, which claims to be the “third largest sundial in the Western Hemisphere,” was created by architect Joe Wong and solar engineer John I. Yellott[9] and installed in the Sundial Circle plaza in 1959. The North Star-pointing sundial has an anodized copper surface on top of a steel frame. It has a diameter of 27 meters, or 90 feet. The metal gnomon, which casts shadows on the dial, rises 35 feet (11 m) above the plaza and is 72 feet long (22 m). [10]

When Fred Graham, an actor, stuntman, and Arizona Film Commissioner, first created Southwestern Studios in 1968 as Fred Graham Studios, it was located in Carefree. In addition to three cutting-edge soundstages, edit bays, a 35mm screening room, make-up stations, production facilities, a western street, and a rear lot, the expansive 160-acre (0.65 km2) desert property next to North Scottsdale offered all of these amenities. The New Dick Van Dyke Show, featuring Dick Van Dyke, Hope Lange, Fannie Flagg, and Marty Brill, was produced in Stage 1 of the studio in the early 1970s. The Other Side of the Wind, one of Orson Welles’ final movies, was also filmed on Stage 1 and stars John Huston, Oja Kodar, Susan Strasberg, Bob Random, and Peter Bogdanovich. [11]

Cancel My Reservation, the final feature film directed by Bob Hope and starring Eva Marie Saint, Ralph Bellamy, and Forrest Tucker, was shot in the studio. A mock-up of the Carefree mansion was constructed and then detonated on the rear lot of the studio where scenes for Michaelangelo Antonioni’s Zabriskie Point were shot. Additionally, the studio was utilized for Paul Newman’s parts in Pocket Money, Bill Cosby’s feature film debut, Man and Boy, for which the western street was constructed, and Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, for which the same western street was used. The short silent film Time River[13] was shot primarily on the rear lot and western street sets, as well as Stages 2 and 3.

Television productions have used Southwestern Studios as well. Foursome, a unique game show and chat show where four celebrities got together to play different games and engage with each other, was created by local resident Hugh Downs in 1973–74. Downs produced and hosted the two pilot episodes. In one episode, tennis was played by actors Janet Leigh and Robert Culp, as well as comedians Jo Anne Worley and Alan Sues. The other episode, which was filmed on Stage 3, had dancer-singer-actor Ann Miller, Alan Sues, Robert Culp, Jo Anne Worley, and others playing a common board game. The back lot and Stage 2 of Southwestern Studios served as the filming locations for Robert Butler’s 1974 television film McMasters of Sweetwater,[14] which starred Jack Cassidy and Loretta Ball.

The studio was demolished in 1999 after being renamed Carefree Studios. The property’s studio, western roadway, and pure desert back lot were turned into a shopping center and housing complex.

“Carefree Highway” is a song that Gordon Lightfoot penned and performed. In order to describe his emotions at the moment, he chose the name of an Arizona State Route 74 segment in north Phoenix.