Modern vacation house suspended above the desert

Levin residence is a desert home nestled on Dove Mountain in Marana, Arizona, designed by Ibarra Rosano Design Architects. An Indianapolis-based couple commissioned the architects for a 3,520 square foot modern desert vacation house that could eventually be converted to a year-round residence. The clients needed enough space to accommodate their adult daughters’ families as well, and the floor plan is designed based on simplicity, functionality and “collapsibility”, enabling the house to be operated as a smaller home when the guests are away.

The residence is configured into three separate volumes that are suspended above the desert, minimizing disruptions to the natural environment and providing shade to desert animals. To avoid covering a dry creek running through the middle of the site, the architects separated the garage from the house and built a covered bridge to connect them. A second bridge connects the main house to the guest wing. Supported by post-tensioned cantilevered concrete slabs, the bulk of the structure consists of wood structural insulated panels that are clad in either steel rain screens or stucco. The house points southeast to maximize access to sunlight and breezes.

Photos: © Bill Timmerman