This residence is built on forty desert acres, some sixty miles southeast of Tucson, AZ. Oriented towards the Dragoon Mountains, the site lies beneath Cochise Stronghold where the Apache fought the Union Army for ten years before negotiating a peace treaty in 1872.

 

As the subject of recent residential development, the desert now bears witness to a more modern cultural conflict. The influx of new homes, most built rapidly and without concern for design, creates a jarring visual incongruity; New England farmhouses disrupt the colors and geometry of the landscape, and Mexican Haciendas invoke a misplaced cultural history.

 

We sought to satisfy the client’s program for a modest sized home, guest cottage and stable while responding mindfully to the natural and constructed qualities of the landscape.

 

The plan frames Stronghold Monument, emphasizing the unique mountain view, while the compound’s walls block nearby development from sight. The arrangement of buildings forms a secluded enclave with an unmediated relationship to the mountains.