Casas Adobes is situated south and southwest of the town of Oro Valley, and west of the community of Catalina Foothills.

The attempted assassination of Representative Gabby Giffords, and the murders of chief judge for the U.S. District Court for Arizona, John Roll, and five other people on January 8, 2011, took place at a Safeway supermarket in Casas Adobes.

[2] The area bordering the Cañada del Oro in the north, and the Rillito River in the south was primarily inhabited and utilized by cattle ranchers.

[2] One of the first individuals to build a home in the area was Maurice L. Reid, who came to Tucson in 1923 seeking a "walking cure" for tuberculosis.

She built Rancho Nezhone, a luxury guest ranch that drew the rich and famous to the sparsely settled area far north of Tucson.

[2] Kate Smith, Liberace, Gen. John Pershing and William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd were guests of the desert retreat which featured lush vegetation with monkeys and parrots.

[2] Today the site is home to Mission Palms Apartments, where much of the original flora and several features remain, including a 300-stone wall in front of the property.

The subdivisions, along with Sam Nanini's landmark Casas Adobes Plaza, were considered by many to be Tucson's first suburb.

[2] Casas Adobes features one of the highest concentrations of Mid-century modern architecture in the Tucson area with many prominent architects including Friedman and Jobusch,[27] Nicholas Sakellar,[28] Tom Gist,[29][30] and Edward Nelson[31] designing properties in the region.

The Plaza is situated on the southwest corner of North Oracle and West Ina roads, and features some of the most authentic Mediterranean architecture in the area.

Westward Look Resort is located in Casas Adobes, beginning in the early 20th century as a dude ranch in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson.

The property was significantly expanded in the late 1960s by modernist architect Edward Nelson[31] and became the Tucson area's first resort.

The original adobe home commissioned by ranch founders William and Maria Watson in the 1910s by Tucson architect Merritt Starkweather remains the heart of Westward Look Resort and is named the "Vigas Room.

Hosting the PGA Tour Tucson Open for more than forty years, golfers Jack Nicklaus (who was discovered and promoted by Nanini), Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson, Tom Kite and Johnny Miller have played at Tucson National.