How do you take a treeless corner lot and create a private oasis with a view? Try importing a piece of Palm Springs! Our client loves to entertain and opens his house for large gatherings. He requested a home with a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor spaces, and a pool as its focus. When not entertaining, he also wanted a house that was cozy enough for him and his best friend (a golden retriever) to relax in private.
We turned to the form of a desert courtyard as a means of creating a private outdoor room for the pool. Framed on three sides by the major elements of the house, the pool and back yard can be accessed directly from carport, kitchen, great room and master bedroom. The fourth wall of the courtyard is created with landscape elements that provide both privacy and openness. Sliding glass walls open onto the courtyard from both the private and public wings of the house. The public wing squarely faces the street and its bottom half is a glass wall that mirrors the sliding walls to the pool.
The result is a view from street to courtyard that is filtered by landscape elements, a floating stair, and a large central chimney. Perched on top of the first story wings, a cantilevered box offers three guest bedrooms connected by a bridge spanning the two story space of the great room. The guest rooms, accessed by the glassy stair, are separated from the master bedroom wing, maintaining privacy for the guests and our client.
