Case Study · Vacation Residence

Desert Light Retreat

A 3,800 sq ft vacation home in Palm Springs designed for passive cooling, panoramic mountain views, and the lowest possible maintenance burden.

Palm Springs, CA Completed 2025 $2.1M construction 3,800 sq ft

The Brief

A house that takes care of itself.

The clients live in San Francisco and visit four to six weekends a year, plus a long winter stretch. They wanted a home that would feel cared-for when they arrived without anyone caring for it — robust materials, passive systems, and no fragile finishes.

They also wanted to entertain. Six adults, two kitchens, three primary suites, and a single long pool that doubles as the front yard.

Program

Three primary suites + bunk room
Indoor and outdoor kitchen
62-foot lap pool, raised spa
Detached pool pavilion
Garage with EV charging
Native landscape, no turf

Climate Strategy

Designed for 110°F summers.

The house orients its long elevations north-south. Western glass is minimized; eastern glass is shaded by deep overhangs and a continuous vine-covered shade trellis. Operable clerestories vent the top of every primary space — when nighttime temps drop below 75°F, the house flushes itself.

Rammed-earth feature walls run the length of the public spaces, stabilizing interior temperatures as the desert swings 30°F between day and night.

Materials

Resilient and tactile.

Rammed earth, microcement floors, thermally broken aluminum windows, and powder-coated steel exteriors. Nothing that needs sealing, refinishing, or worrying about.

Constraints Solved

Three things the desert demanded.

Heat gain

Calibrated overhangs

Every aperture sized to the local solar geometry — full winter sun, blocked summer sun, no afterthought screens.

Wind

Sand-aware detailing

Window joinery and door sweeps detailed for the seasonal sandstorms that sandblast lesser homes.

Privacy

Walled garden plan

An eight-foot rammed-earth wall defines the property edge — generous interior privacy, neighborly exterior.

Documentation

From rendering to reality.

Living room with rammed-earth feature wall

Timeline

Twenty-one months, including a long permitting stretch.

Concept Design
Mar – May 2024 · Two passive-cooling strategies tested.
Design Development
Jun – Sep 2024 · Wall assemblies, glazing, and overhang geometry resolved.
Permits & Coordination
Oct 2024 – Jan 2025 · Title 24 modeling, HOA design review, and city submittal.
Construction
Feb – Nov 2025 · Rammed-earth walls poured first; structure completed around them.

Vacation residence?

Let's design one that looks after itself.

We've designed remote homes from the desert to the mountains. The brief always starts with: what should it do when no one's there?

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