DreamCatcher Inn at Chiricahua

Where the couple landed was DreamCatcher Inn at Chiricahua, which original owners John and Julia Kirk had operated for nearly a quarter-century. The Kirks were ready to retire, and the numbers made sense. And so, for the past year, Keesee and Robles have been making the B&B their own while keeping regular guests happy. “Those are some hard shoes to fill,” Robles says. “John and Julia were really great cooks.” Here, Keesee interjects: “But we’re really great cooks as well.” “I was getting to that,” says the man now known as “Chef Ray” in online reviews of the B&B.

Tubac Country Inn

Along the wash that fronts the long wooden porch, mesquite trees cast speckled shade on blue agaves and towering prickly pear cactuses. Goldfinches hop from branch to branch while the sun makes pinpricks of light on the trees’ spindly leaves, illuminating the spines of golden barrel cactuses as pale and yellow as beaten egg yolks. Near the outdoor fireplace, a miniature St. Francis maintains a silent vigil.

Casa Mañana

Emma Gabaldon and her husband, Gaby, started the family restaurant out of their house in 1951, and it quickly became a beloved gathering place for locals. When Adam Hoopes and his mother, Diane, bought Casa Mañana in 2004, they committed themselves to preserving the food and atmosphere Safford residents grew to love when the Gabaldons were at the helm.

Rincon Creek Ranch

Bill and Gretchen Shirley threw everything they had into creating this Sonoran Desert sanctuary. In 2010, they bought a 78-acre former cattle ranch bordering Saguaro National Park East and set to work on seven luxury casitas overlooking the park. They’ve since expanded their land to nearly 100 acres, to preserve the views and the quiet, and constructed a 1.3-mile nature trail that ambles through the property’s three habitats: desert, mesquite bosque and pasture.

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