If ever there was a house to get me to move to the boiling hot desert, it would be this one – the Desert Courtyard House by Wendell Burnette Architects. Its Scottsdale, Arizona site is a peninsula of granite outcroppings and Saguaro cacti that levels out where the house is built, affording views of distant mountains. Sit back and mentally move in, like I have.
The structure was constructed from excavated soil and cement, one of the oldest methods of construction called rammed earth.
The home opens up to a serene courtyard with the surrounding building featuring floor-to-ceiling glass windows that blur the separation between indoors and out.
The courtyard feels protected and private with open views of the desert sky. The interior spaces surrounding it benefit from the light flooding the central area.
Photos by Bill Timmerman.

4 Comments
WAYLIFE on 08.29.2014 at 14:19 PM
How are there NO comments on this yet? I am BLOWN away by the minimal and functional relevancy of this house. I could go on, but I’m still soaking in these photos.
Asmodeus on 08.31.2014 at 20:29 PM
O.O
Mike Nowson on 10.01.2014 at 04:35 AM
I feel like chucking in Architecture and leaving it to these guys….amazing work. stunning
Dany on 10.30.2014 at 14:04 PM
This house is indeed mind-blowing!
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