1.   Custom homes with spectacular views of the downtown skyline fill the streets that snake through Baldwin Hills.

2.   Banducci said upscale office buildings, resorts and high-end custom homes are all logical venues for his product.

3.   But smaller custom homes are becoming more popular, local architects and builders say.

4.   He apprenticed with a carpenter, then he and a partner began buying property and building high-end custom homes.

5.   He dropped out of college and knocked around a bit before he got into real estate, eventually building custom homes to sit on all that real estate.

6.   He scouted shoot locations in affluent Tempe developments with lavish custom homes, knocking on doors unannounced and asking permission to photograph a car in their driveway.

7.   Craig Johnson retired in February from Borg-Warner Automotive to expand a side business in designing custom homes.