Architect’s Modern Desert Home Showcases the Natural Landscape
A skillfully designed outdoor space celebrates the views, plants and terrain of Arizona
When designing his home on 2 acres of Sonoran Desert, architect Clint Miller looked to modern masters Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson for inspiration. His design maintains an efficient footprint that emphasizes clean lines, framed views and plenty of steel, glass and brick.
The design for the land surrounding the home is as thoughtful and specific, though the inspiration comes from a source that is closer, though no less significant: the natural landscape of the Arizona desert, which runs right up to the walls and windows of the house. “The challenge, but also the uniqueness of the space, was working with completely natural native desert,” says landscape architect Clayton Miller. “It was a less-is-more philosophy from the start.”
The design for the land surrounding the home is as thoughtful and specific, though the inspiration comes from a source that is closer, though no less significant: the natural landscape of the Arizona desert, which runs right up to the walls and windows of the house. “The challenge, but also the uniqueness of the space, was working with completely natural native desert,” says landscape architect Clayton Miller. “It was a less-is-more philosophy from the start.”
Heightened Desert Design
The more dramatic landscape design occurs closer to the home, where it is more visible, impactful and easier to maintain (though nothing receives supplemental irrigation). A straight path of flagstone and decomposed granite leads from the driveway to the front door, framed by a naturalistic planting of yuccas, agaves and other sculptural desert natives. “We wanted to add more variety of species to create an aesthetically pleasing entrance,” Miller says. Strategically placed boulders from other parts of the site also heighten the design.
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The more dramatic landscape design occurs closer to the home, where it is more visible, impactful and easier to maintain (though nothing receives supplemental irrigation). A straight path of flagstone and decomposed granite leads from the driveway to the front door, framed by a naturalistic planting of yuccas, agaves and other sculptural desert natives. “We wanted to add more variety of species to create an aesthetically pleasing entrance,” Miller says. Strategically placed boulders from other parts of the site also heighten the design.
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Museumlike Views
The home’s floor-to-ceiling windows and semi-isolated location mean the homeowners enjoy unobstructed, panoramic views of the surrounding landscape.
The landscape architects wanted this view to feel like an extension of the house, but they also saw an opportunity to create a museumlike experience. Low, linear metal planters tie in with the home’s architecture, while neatly planted rows of agave appear as specimens on display. With no fences surrounding the property, native animals, including snakes, javelinas and coyotes, often pass through the yard, sometimes venturing right up to the glass.
Native mesquite trees form a backdrop to the raised planter. “These native trees create privacy as well as shade to help keep the home cool during the warm desert temperature,” Miller says. The natural landscape extends beyond.
The home’s floor-to-ceiling windows and semi-isolated location mean the homeowners enjoy unobstructed, panoramic views of the surrounding landscape.
The landscape architects wanted this view to feel like an extension of the house, but they also saw an opportunity to create a museumlike experience. Low, linear metal planters tie in with the home’s architecture, while neatly planted rows of agave appear as specimens on display. With no fences surrounding the property, native animals, including snakes, javelinas and coyotes, often pass through the yard, sometimes venturing right up to the glass.
Native mesquite trees form a backdrop to the raised planter. “These native trees create privacy as well as shade to help keep the home cool during the warm desert temperature,” Miller says. The natural landscape extends beyond.
Looking back onto the house, you can see the quarter-inch-thick steel planters filled with reclaimed rock from the site and the neatly planted row of whale’s tongue agave (Agave ovatifolia). The planter’s materiality and shape echo the home’s. This view also shows how the natural desert continues to the windows.
Here’s How to Get That Great Steel Planter Look
Here’s How to Get That Great Steel Planter Look
Room to Relax With Friends and Family
A small patch of artificial turf in the backyard provides a soft, flat space for the homeowners to relax, entertain and play with their grandchildren, and it satisfies their requirement for no maintenance or irrigation. Native velvet mesquite trees (Prosopis velutina) shade the outdoor space, as do the home’s dramatic overhangs.
This lawn is the home’s only manicured outdoor living space, as the rest of the property is raw desert landscape. A steel edging along the front of the lawn retains 18 inches of grade, transforming what had been a natural, rocky slope into a flat, usable outdoor space. “They enjoy sitting in the backyard with a glass of wine, taking in the desert views and watching the wildlife that passes through the large cross-cutting wash that runs the length of the property,” Miller says.
A small patch of artificial turf in the backyard provides a soft, flat space for the homeowners to relax, entertain and play with their grandchildren, and it satisfies their requirement for no maintenance or irrigation. Native velvet mesquite trees (Prosopis velutina) shade the outdoor space, as do the home’s dramatic overhangs.
This lawn is the home’s only manicured outdoor living space, as the rest of the property is raw desert landscape. A steel edging along the front of the lawn retains 18 inches of grade, transforming what had been a natural, rocky slope into a flat, usable outdoor space. “They enjoy sitting in the backyard with a glass of wine, taking in the desert views and watching the wildlife that passes through the large cross-cutting wash that runs the length of the property,” Miller says.
A tidy array of architectural slipper plants (Pedilanthus macrocarpus) frame the turf in the backyard, drawing a bridge between the clean-lined modernist home and the natural desert beyond.
Subtle outdoor lighting allows the homeowners to enjoy the backyard at night without disturbing the surrounding landscape.
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The Site Before
Here you can see the remains of the home built on this property in 1962, including the concrete pad the architect used as the foundation for the current home. The home had been reduced to what we see here when the architect purchased the property. He also incorporated the previous home’s handmade sand-mold bricks from the early 1900s into the new design.
Here you can see the remains of the home built on this property in 1962, including the concrete pad the architect used as the foundation for the current home. The home had been reduced to what we see here when the architect purchased the property. He also incorporated the previous home’s handmade sand-mold bricks from the early 1900s into the new design.
The original driveway from the main road to the house, shown here, was paved when the property was first developed and is still the only route to the house. During the renovation, the landscape architects regraded the driveway to improve traffic but changed as little as possible, finishing the driveway in a native pea gravel.
The further you get away from the house, the more the landscape returns to nature. The architects strategically thinned native plants to encourage better growth habits and planted some additional ones for privacy. “The majority of the lot is left to be natural, undisturbed and native to the Sonoran Desert land. We wanted the design to be an extension that flowed into the desert,” Miller says.
Architect: Clint Miller
Landscape contractor: Premier Environments
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The further you get away from the house, the more the landscape returns to nature. The architects strategically thinned native plants to encourage better growth habits and planted some additional ones for privacy. “The majority of the lot is left to be natural, undisturbed and native to the Sonoran Desert land. We wanted the design to be an extension that flowed into the desert,” Miller says.
Architect: Clint Miller
Landscape contractor: Premier Environments
More on Houzz
Tour other inspiring gardens
Browse thousands of photos of landscapes
Work with a landscape architect near you
Shop for outdoor products
Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: Architect Clint Miller, his wife and their French bulldog
Location: Carefree, Arizona
Size: 2-acre property, of which about one-half acre is landscaped
Landscape architects: Russell Greey and Clayton Miller of Greey Pickett
With the exception of the roughly 2,000-square-foot house, which Miller built on the concrete slab of the property’s original 1962 home, and the driveway to get there, the land remained undisturbed before the landscape design. It featured native boulders, trees, shrubs and a wash running through the property.
Landscape architects Russell Greey and Clayton Miller of Greey Pickett worked to create a pleasing design for the homeowners that also celebrated the site’s natural features. They added outdoor living space for the family and designed views through the home’s floor-to-ceiling glass walls that are attractive, semiprivate and in harmony with the existing site.
“The landscape design philosophy was to merge the indoor-outdoor livable space for the homeowners while keeping the natural integrity of the desert,” Miller says. “We really loved that this project was all about honoring the beauty of the natural desert.”