Pueblo-Style Home Transformed into a Distinctive Desert Retreat

The art of design really cannot be described, but rather felt. The client asked me to come house hunting with her. One of the things that we looked for when we were house hunting was something that feels very authentic to the locale. As soon as we walked in and we did a little tour of the home, I looked to my client and I said, "This feels like you."
  
Sense of Place Informs the Style and Design
 
The home is located in the heart of Scottsdale and is nestled in a beautiful foothill of the Pinnacle Peak mountain range. It has a stunning view of downtown Phoenix for all the perfect sunsets. Coming from Chicago, I found the Pueblo-style architecture to be utterly fascinating. The natural beauty here is that desolate severity with these wild and whimsical landscape plantings around it. And so the architecture is all about blending in with the landscape because it's respectful of the landscape. 
 
There is a lot of warmth in the Southwest. For me, one of the most critical components to selecting the materials is the more that the materials reflect what's happening outside, the more longevity and staying power they have inside. Using the kind of natural, earthy, textural qualities that's inherent and authentic to the location, and layering those into the home, was essential. From the wood flooring, to the wall details, to the paint color, to how do we accent some of the inherent details to enhance what's already special. 
 
Small Moments Make a Big Impression

One of my favorite moments is entering into the kitchen, and as you enter through that smaller opening, you see the side profile of those beautiful carved organic Pueblo fireplaces. And as you continue down, the house is perfectly positioned and it shows you the subtle guidance of the home. And you can see all those layers of the architecture of the soft bullnose details. Each slight angle, the home is revealing itself to you.

Another one of my favorite spaces in the home is what I call the casita lounge. This part of the house is much more about that indoor-outdoor living, and we reshaped the walls architecturally in that room and incorporated the big, large sliding doors so that the whole room down there can open up and you get those beautiful poetic breezes, and it's a much more colorful, much more playful part of the house.
  
Framing the Views and Helping Create Memories

Marvin was one of the only companies that we researched that could handle the height of window that we needed. It was going up to that 12-foot-high length without those horizontal framing interruptions. And as much as the Modern line is minimal, it's also beautiful. The thin framing detail, we wanted that to emphasize that punctured architectural moment without the focus being taken away from the space and the view beyond. I love bronze, and not everybody can carry that finish option in a beautiful way. From the tables to the cabinetry hardware to the door handles, there is a built-in consistency that you will feel through the space.