San Francisco firm Aidlin Darling Design has completed a low-slung home in California's Palm Desert that is intended to contrast the boulders and trees found in its remote setting.
The three-bedroom family home is located on a rocky plateau in the arid landscape, with views of the Coachella Valley and San Jacinto Mountain Range.
This elevated vantage led to the name High Desert Retreat for the project, which earned a 2021 AIA Design Award in the interiors category.
High Desert Retreat sits on a rocky patch of desert in Southern California
Part of Aidlin Darling Design's brief was to protect the existing Pinyon trees that were found on site. This species of pine is native to the Southwestern United States, and can have a lifespan of up to 600 years. "The structure would be exceedingly quiet and crisp in its geometry, intentionally contrasting the organic forms of the desert, and very low to the ground to minimize its presence," said the studio.
The low-slung building serves a family's holiday home
Because of the area's dry climate and predictable weather, the home is made up of a series of separate wooden volumes clustered under a large, overhanging roof.
In addition to the covered exterior spaces, the home also has concrete walls that form courtyards around the Pinyon trees.
The home's elevated vantage point provides views of the Coachella Valley and San Jacinto mountains
"While the wooden volumes house the critical program for the home, the entry sequence fr...