1979
Sometime in 1979, the manor was built as a private residence for Carl Jensen, one of the original founders of an aloe vera company named Forever Living Products. The home was completed in 1981 and oddly, a permit to build the home and a final inspection were issued by the City of Mesa on the same day. Folklore has it that there was no original request to build the home, which was hidden by several acres of orange groves from city inspectors, until an inspector inadvertently flew over the property in a private plane as the home neared completion. The original home encompassed four stories and almost 16,000 livable square feet. There were ten bedrooms (the Jensen’s had nine children), 14 bathrooms, two kitchens, two laundry rooms and a movie theatre. The hall on the second floor is an amazing 150 feet long. The story goes that each of the children asked for something special during the construction of the home, which explains the secret passages built into closets, the large sauna, Jacuzzi, weight room and the windowed turret on the 3rd floor southwest side of the house – perfect for watching airplanes take off from nearby Falcon Field.
The backyard included a gazebo, barbeque pit, sunken/lighted tennis court, racquetball courts, and an outdoor Jacuzzi. The 30 X 60 foot pool is 12 feet deep and covered in one-inch mosaic tile. It featured a slide and a commercial diving board. The mosaic insignia of a dove (it may be a seagull) in the bottom of the pool is the logo for Forever Living Products, and is original to the home!