Desert Mirage
Phoenix / Arizona / USA
This residence is conceived as a sequence of spatial experiences, orchestrated through three interconnected wings that guide daily life from sunrise to sunset. The design leverages its orientation and topography to shield inhabitants from the elevated street and neighbors to the north while embracing unobstructed southern and eastern landscapes with a bold butterfly roof that draws the eye upward toward the mountain and outward to the valley.
The easternmost primary wing anchors the residence, housing private spaces like the bedroom, office, and gym designed to frame the day’s beginnings and endings. The primary bedroom cantilevers over the serene desert, offering scenes of dawn cresting over the mountains and dusk settling over the city’s lights. The journey flows from this private enclave to a central living area, where the communal heart beats within walls of glass under a sculpturally pitched roof capturing dynamic views of the mountainous terrain.
The central zone’s kitchen and great room spill into a dining room floating over a sculpted wash, which channels natural water flows, marrying function with ecological sensitivity. This landscape features restores elements of the original hillside and celebrates the desert’s ephemeral watercourses.
Materials include—travertine stone, patinated metal, and smooth sand stucco—which respond to the desert’s climatic demands. Douglas Fir wood accents and glass walls dissolve boundaries, enhancing the home’s open-air pavilion ethos during temperate months.
