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All Photos/outdoor/locations : desert

Outdoor Desert Design Photos and Ideas

Fleetwood Windows were installed throughout the home, including as a partition between the living room and deck.
The reading nook corridor has a sizeable sliding glass door that pockets into more glass, with thresholds flush between the cork floors on the interior and the large format porcelain tile on the exterior. The center of the atrium is filled with raked 1/8” Desert Gold crushed granite.
Homeowner Jay Longtin served as the general contractor and performed the majority of the remodel work, aside from the outdoor floors, concrete, and pool, which were done by Architectural Blue.
"The semi-public front porch projects out from the front of the house to grab views of the 'camel head' part of the mountain,
Ridge Mountain Residence was designed to blend into the existing Palm Springs landscape. Cor-Ten steel cladding provides a naturally weathering material, while the concrete structure and flagstone terrace complement the light tones of the surrounding mountains.
Mila designed the home’s concrete pool, which is finished with a custom plaster. The pool area includes sleek chairs from Cast + Crew.
6. "Am I the 'fixer-upper' type?" "The truth is that an additional $100,000 on your purchase price is only about $300 more in payments,” she says. “If you work long hours and don't have a handy bone in your body, you might be better off buying a more fixed-up home.” 7. "Who are all of the decision makers, and can they actually see the home?" "There are times when parents may be helping out children with their down payment," she says. “It's always better to have the parents in on the process as early as possible."
A 41-foot-long heated saltwater pool includes a submerged tanning ledge. The hot tub was created using concrete and stucco. The outdoor area includes lounge chairs from Jøna’s curatory, Cast + Crew.
This view between the two casitas shows the compound’s material palette, which includes stone steps, corrugated-metal siding, and steel detailing.
A view of the main residence is framed by the casitas and on-site windmill.
The decked patio and pool area is shaded by olive and pomegranate trees.
Fittingly named the Courtyard House, the residence features a large outdoor space tucked underneath the cantilevered upper level, providing a quiet and shaded area for Lalita to enjoy her coffee breaks. Rotated masonry blocks extend from the courtyard wall to create succulent planters.
The choice of materials for their tactile qualities extended to the pool. "The same marble that's outside is inside of the swimming pool," says Loperena. "So, you look into it, and you immediately feel cool looking at it. And you go in and you feel it."
The Hourglass Corral is a four-bedroom, 3000-square-foot home that derives its tessellated form from the architects’ application of the Voronoi diagram.
The entire property consists of 90,000 square meters, or about 22 acres, on the island of Milos in Greece. Each of the five corrals are defined in the landscape by a white border.
The pool helps cool and humidify the air before it’s drawn into the home.
An extremely rare stump Ironwood specimen with a gnarled growth habit serves as the centerpiece of the interior courtyard. "It’s used to create a metaphor that this new house was built within a native grove of Ironwoods," says Matt Thomas. The courtyard also helps passively cool the house.
"The pool breaks from the O-shaped plan, drawing you out into the desert toward the mountain views to the south, and is capped by a built-in fire pit bench," say the architects.
While not connected to the house's irrigation, the saltwater pool has its own solar-powered saline pump and cleansing system.
One of the home’s water features adorns a space between the bedrooms and main home. "We treat all the water from the house to clean them for irrigating the rest of the house," relates Elizarraras.
The roof terrace offers a refreshing view of the ocean. "It's important for us to consider how to place architectural elements based on the topography and orientation, and how they’re going to face the sunset, the sunrise, and interact with the wind blowing over the land," says Elizarraras.
Approached by clients who wanted to simplify their lifestyle and reconnect with the landscape, Phoenix-based Wendell Burnette Architects designed the Hidden Valley Desert House as a “long pavilion for living.”
"Since we're completely off grid we operate off of hauled water, so we have three 1,800 gallon tanks that get filled up every other week. But for those same reasons, people off the grid don't really have pools because they're hard to maintain, but we did it anyway."
Whisper Rock Ranch just north of Pioneertown, California.
"The client’s goals were to create an open and light-filled home that maximized views of the Coachella Valley below and the Santa Rosa mountains to the south and west," says designer Stuart Silk Architects. Thunderbird Heights Residence enjoys a fluid connection between the primary indoor rooms and the outdoor terraces both for entertaining and casual outdoor living.
After: The Front Porch
A look at the pool area of Steel House #2. Each major room features floor-to-ceiling glass panels and sliding doors that are all eight feet high.
The enclosed central patios are great for enjoying warm weather and protecting owners from the winds.
Poolside.
Warm summer nights by the pool.
Sunset photo by Tomoko Matsubayashi
The former home of interior designer and renowned blogger Sarah Sherman Samuel, this 1961 A-frame in Palm Springs received a thorough renovation and a new lease on life. According to her blog, when Samuel first toured the house she encountered "cloud murals, a scary dungeon-esque bathroom, and stanky old carpet." Much of the 784-square-foot space felt cramped and dated. However, she knew the home had good bones, so she decided to start renovating.
Phoenix design-build firm The Construction Zone renovated an old concrete-and-steel barn, turning it into a sleek new guesthouse with an open-plan, three-room layout. Completed for approximately $300,000, the 790-square-foot adaptive reuse project carefully preserves the character of the existing structure while upgrading it to match the modern aesthetic of the main residence.
A campfire pit allows for guests to gather and connect amid a garden of cacti.
The bedroom wing side of the house on the original foundation was kept low enough to keep views of the mountains to the north, but tall enough to screen the neighbors house across the street
A perforated, corrugated metal patio cover provides a transition between the bright desert sun, and the shaded interior of the house
Wild Geese Rugs in Peach echo the landscape in color and composition.
Amangiri is a modern luxury destination set on 600 acres within canyon country offering access to national parks and Lake Powell. The resort is a feat of architecture and is outfitted with a world-class spa.
High in the northern desert of Chile, this eco-friendly boutique lodge is the ultimate location for stargazing and adventure trekking. The property features stunning views of Licancabur volcano.
This also made it possible to include a pool that seamlessly joins with the rear terrace, since the rocky terrain prevented excavation work.
Built in 1937, Taliesin West was an experiment in desert living that evolved at the hands of Wright and his apprentices until he passed in 1959. Meant to be a refuge from the harsh winters of the Midwest, the complex—which grew to include a drafting studio, dining facilities, three theaters, a workshop, Wright’s office and private living quarters, and apprentice and staff residences—takes direct inspiration from the arid landscape. Over the years, Wright continually rethought previous design solutions and rebuilt sections of Taliesin West with the assistance of his apprentices. Today, the complex continues to be the headquarters of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and School of Architecture.
Indigenous plantings, suitable for the warm climate, surround the simple massing. The blue sky is a powerful contrast to the white plastered walls.
A new structure near the dome holds an array of solar panels and three lithium-ion batteries. “The power is completely sustainable,” says Sam. “I can even run the air-conditioning on it.”
A border hedge provides privacy for the backyard, where distant views of the San Jacinto mountains can be appreciated.
The L-shaped, flat-roofed Steel & Glass home has many of the hallmarks of Wexler's style. The 2,550-square-foot layout wraps a pool, made accessible by lots of sliding glass.
This home's prefabricated components were all made in Marmol Radziner’s home-building factory near Los Angeles, and trucked over to the one-and-a-half-acre site.
- Taos, New Mexico Dwell Magazine : July / August 2017
A striped hammock is perfectly placed for relaxing and taking in the sunset.
Outside, a punchy dining set spray-painted by Nagel livens up the patio.
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