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Houzz Tour: Stunning Desert Hillside Home in Arizona
An extraordinary, expansive home near Phoenix celebrates and interacts with the beauty of its natural surroundings
Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia. I've been writing about design online for quite a few years over at Hatch: The Design Public Blog.
Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta... More »
When building a home on a beautiful desert hillside, you have some serious site planning and engineering to consider. When designing a home nestled into the side of a rocky hill outside Phoenix, architects Jon Bernhard and Mike Wetzel of Swabuck Partners knew they had to bring in the engineers and the big trucks — big trucks full of massive boulders. The boulders ensured that the hillside was stable and retained its natural beauty, and they enhanced the way the house and its built landscape related to its spectacular surroundings.
The architects were "guided by the owners’ appreciation for outdoor living and the qualities the native desert has to offer," says Bernhard. Single-slope, computer-engineered roofs follow the slope of the hillside. "The deep roof slopes match and follow the mountain slope, and cantilevered terraces soften the home's imprint on the property," says Bernhard. "This light touch on the site is further represented with the use of desert colors, textures and by blurring the line between the native and the man-made by engaging boulders and landscaping within the living areas." This included integrating water, which cascades down the hill and appears to continue across the patio and out past the entrance.
All of the interior spaces take full advantage of the natural light and surrounding views, and it's hard to know where the interiors end and the outdoors begins. Both indoors and out, spaces range from soaring and open to small and intimate.
Because this home transitions so seamlessly from front to back, side to side, and indoors and out, it's only fitting that we will be hopping from outdoors to indoors and back out again along this tour.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of five
Location: Outside of Phoenix, Arizona
Size: 19,000 square feet; on about 5 acres; 4 bedrooms, including a guest house with 1 bedroom and 1 bath
That's interesting: Some of the boulders added to the site were so large that they were brought in singly on their very own trucks.
The architects were "guided by the owners’ appreciation for outdoor living and the qualities the native desert has to offer," says Bernhard. Single-slope, computer-engineered roofs follow the slope of the hillside. "The deep roof slopes match and follow the mountain slope, and cantilevered terraces soften the home's imprint on the property," says Bernhard. "This light touch on the site is further represented with the use of desert colors, textures and by blurring the line between the native and the man-made by engaging boulders and landscaping within the living areas." This included integrating water, which cascades down the hill and appears to continue across the patio and out past the entrance.
All of the interior spaces take full advantage of the natural light and surrounding views, and it's hard to know where the interiors end and the outdoors begins. Both indoors and out, spaces range from soaring and open to small and intimate.
Because this home transitions so seamlessly from front to back, side to side, and indoors and out, it's only fitting that we will be hopping from outdoors to indoors and back out again along this tour.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of five
Location: Outside of Phoenix, Arizona
Size: 19,000 square feet; on about 5 acres; 4 bedrooms, including a guest house with 1 bedroom and 1 bath
That's interesting: Some of the boulders added to the site were so large that they were brought in singly on their very own trucks.
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| An axis of water ties the front of the house to the back. A waterfall flows down from the top of the hill, and because of this axis, there is an illusion that it flows under the back patio, is brought through the house and terminates at this fountain. |
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| The single-slope roof structures follow the slope of the hillside, making the home appear to be a part of the hill. The municipality did not want a three-story structure, so a garage is cleverly tucked underneath the main living floor (far left side of this photograph), while a master suite occupies the top floor over another part of the house (toward the right side of this photograph). The structure you see on the far right is a separate guest house. "We applied boulders to the sides of the retaining walls along the driveway to make it look like it was carved out of the hillside," says Wetzel. |
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| The main entryway is an inviting jewel box and makes the most of local materials and light. The entry door is constructed of 5-inch-thick mahogany panels floating between layers of laminated glass. A grid of 21 panels of onyx appears to float over the entry. During the day the sunlight glows through; backlighting provides a warm and inviting glow at night. |
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| The front door is aligned with an expanse of glass that opens out to the backyard and a view of the hillside. The grid of onyx hovering overhead emphasizes the axis from the front entry to back. The water also emphasizes the connection from the hillside waterfall to the fountain in the front. |
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One can follow the water from the fountain and pool out front to the pools around the back entrance and up the hill.
"The hillside was reconstructed to stabilize it," explains Wetzel. This meant that the existing hillside was covered in a geotech mesh for safety, and boulders were brought in and moved to cover it. The team also engineered the waterfall seen above, which provides soothing noise and draws the eye up to the top of the hill.
"The hillside was reconstructed to stabilize it," explains Wetzel. This meant that the existing hillside was covered in a geotech mesh for safety, and boulders were brought in and moved to cover it. The team also engineered the waterfall seen above, which provides soothing noise and draws the eye up to the top of the hill.
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Through the front door, a gallery-like hallway leads to the great room.
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| In the great room a grid of Fossil Creek flagstone emphasizes verticality. "The 24-inch by 24-inch grid lines continue up to the pool and the guest house," says Wetzel. This is one of the design moves that connects the interior and exterior architecture. |
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| The soaring ceiling in the great room articulates the hillside-driven slope of the roof. |
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| "The indoor architecture and the outdoor architecture each speak for themselves, but they also blend together really well," notes Wetzel. |
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| The entry terrace leads from the garage level up to the front door. The guest house is on the right side of this image. Split-face Mesastone adds purple-haze hues from the mountain to the facade and introduces another texture. Weathered penny copper adds to the glow overhead. |
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| Pocket doors open the great room up to the entry terrace. Large cantilevers provide shade from the Arizona sun, keep the house cooler and create terraces. They also create a transitional space that continues to blur the lines between indoors and out. |
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"Large spans of retractable glass and clerestory windows offer natural daylight throughout every room in the home," says Bernhard. "Floor-to-ceiling glass and the avoidance of finish-material changes at exterior wall lines provide expansive indoor-outdoor living environments."
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The long sheets of glass you see around this breakfast area are pocket doors, which transform the enclosed room into an al fresco dining space with a few simple slides.
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The kitchen picks up on a darker desert palette that includes Red Dragon granite and Wingate black cabinetry. Smaller-scale elements, like the backsplash tiles, create a more intimate feel.
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In a house so open to the outside, privacy is necessary. Metal mesh shades provide it in this powder room.
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| A bedroom opens to a mountain terrace and abuts 12-foot by 18-foot boulders. "We placed all the boulders to look natural and not contrived," says Wetzel. |
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Built right up to the hillside, this bath enjoys an expansive view of the boulders.
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"Anywhere we could monopolize on integrating the natural light into the interior, we did," says Wetzel. Case in point: The lack of risers on these white oak stairs opens up the view to the large window at the landing.
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Upstairs, a sitting room in the master suite makes the top floor its own retreat.
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"We altered the grid in the master bath to make it more human scale," explains Wetzel. The 24-inch by 18-inch limestone emphasizes horizontal lines, while green slate introduces a new material and cooler hues.
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"The master bedroom has a to-die-for view," says Wetzel. "You look out to the mountains and can see the city lights in the distance." To make the most of this view, a motorized 12-foot x 15-foot door opens to a private terrace that has a fire pit.
Additional soft light comes from the Sapele mahogany ceiling coffers.
Additional soft light comes from the Sapele mahogany ceiling coffers.
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| The view from the top of the hill to the backyard is dramatic. An upper terrace with its own fire pit provides an intimate, tucked-away outdoor space and a view of the city lights at night. |
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| The designers made sure that the tint of the patio's concrete matched the landscape. |
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Well-placed boulders cleverly conceal an outdoor shower, providing privacy yet keeping the open-air feeling.
The project took 20 months from start to finish, including all of the extensive site work. "On a project like this, it's always scary at the beginning to see how much needs to be done. It's a wonderful feeling to get it right, down to the smallest details, and execute something extraordinary," says Wetzel.
More:
Architect's Toolbox: Wash the Wall With Sunlight
Houzz Tour: Gracious Hacienda in Mexico
The project took 20 months from start to finish, including all of the extensive site work. "On a project like this, it's always scary at the beginning to see how much needs to be done. It's a wonderful feeling to get it right, down to the smallest details, and execute something extraordinary," says Wetzel.
More:
Architect's Toolbox: Wash the Wall With Sunlight
Houzz Tour: Gracious Hacienda in Mexico
Ideabook updated on May 22, 2012.
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Also, boulders are not known for being remorseful. I think the word Wetzel was looking for was "contrived" not "contrite". And he "capitalized on" the natural light, not monopolized it.
Words. They mean things. ;)
In reading some of these comments I have to chuckle to myself because I didn't realize people posting, after looking at these photo's, could actually read the minds of the owners. Gee, I learn something new everyday.
If someone wants to live in a 19,000 sq. ft. home or a 1,900 sq. ft. home who am I to question what they want? That would mean someone in a 1,100 ft. home would think my 1,900 sq. ft. home is over the top for 2 people and go on to insult our choice on how we want to live.
We don't know these people and we shouldn't insult their choices. If they have the money to live like this, good for them. They didn't ask my to finance it so I'm fine with it. They didn't harm me by building this house so why would I want to insult them? They provided jobs and supported businesses and thus added to the economy, not damage it.
Envy and jealousy are horrible character flaws.
Why decline such an offer? Sell it!
Please look closely at the photos, and tell me - because I'm really curious about what it is that's turning on other people: what specifically about this design or decor makes you comfortable? Not what do you see that you like looking at or would like to own -- but what makes you COMFORTABLE?
Consider further, the challenges of maintaining and repairing the pumps for the vertical water feature/waterfall - without continuous attention those pumps & filters would pack it in after the season's first haboob.
Query also whether adding so much fill to the site to accommodate a 19,000 sf structure (the same area, BTW,as the Mesa Convention Center's exhibit hall) will remain stable in flash floods.
Bottom line: this structure's design seems very poorly integrated into its site and the climate. If I had $9mil to spend I'd certainly be looking to buy elsewhere.