|

Architect Designs a Desert Home That Feels Like a Temple (House Tour)

ByMyProperty Life

When an architect designs a desert home that feels like a temple, the result is often poetic – as it is at Desert Temple, a residence in La Quinta, California. Designed by Nomad Design and built by McClure Homes Design Build, the home responds to its setting in the Madison Club with clarity, calm and reverence. Every element is intended to blend into the surrounding Coachella Valley landscape, from the low-lying rooflines to the neutral material palette. What emerges is a space that prioritises emotion and atmosphere over spectacle, inviting stillness through a carefully layered sensory experience.

From the outset, the architectural approach is defined by restraint. The house is set at the end of a private flagpole lot, with the journey into the property forming an essential part of the design narrative. A framed mountain view anchors the axis from driveway to entry, creating a deliberate moment of orientation. As the threshold is crossed, the canopy of a floating roof draws the eye skyward while opening up the living spaces to expansive views and natural light. The house immediately signals that this is not just another residence – this is where an architect designs a desert home that feels like a temple.

Read another article:Design Trends for Creating a Vacation Vibe at Home

Inside, natural travertine, oak timber and silver-toned metal elements establish a soft visual rhythm, mirroring the tones of the desert beyond. The continuity of surfaces, complemented by aluminium and timber battens from Sculptform, allows spaces to breathe while adding a refined layer of texture. These battens wrap from interior to exterior, dissolving the boundary between indoors and out. The layout supports this sense of openness, with the main living area acting as a central volume that fans outward into bedrooms, courtyards and landscaped zones.

The pool, located along the rear edge of the home, offers a particularly striking gesture, cascading with the terrain toward a reflective lake below. It’s one of many features that reinforce the idea that this is where an architect designs a desert home that feels like a temple. Rather than dominating the land, the structure sits lightly within it, celebrating moments of pause and reflection. Guestrooms open onto internal gardens while circulation paths frame the landscape, encouraging a deeper relationship with the setting.

This project is a refined example of what happens when an architect designs a desert home that feels like a temple with the intent to quieten the senses and elevate everyday rituals. McClure Homes Design Build’s execution of the building reinforces the emotional tone of the project. Their attention to detail, along with Sculptform’s custom battens, adds layers of durability and craft essential for the desert climate. Studio Glint’s interiors continue the architectural language, bringing in warmth and tactility through curated furnishings and subtle lighting.

Read another article:Hot Trends: 20 Best Farmhouse Style Kitchens in White and Wood

Ultimately, Desert Temple embodies a philosophy where design becomes sanctuary. It’s a place shaped by emotion, crafted through collaboration and refined with intention. In this project, an architect designs a desert home that feels like a temple not as a metaphor, but as a lived experience – a structure that invites calm, stillness and connection in equal measure.

00:00 – Introduction to the Desert Home
01:30 – A Family Business
02:16 -The Location and The Arrival Sequence
03:04 – Walkthrough of the Home
04:04 – Material and Colour Palette
04:29 – Sculptform Collaboration
05:33 – Incorporating the Landscape
06:13 – Emotion Driven Design
06:46 – Favourite Aspects

For more from The Local Project:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/thelocalproject/
Website – https://thelocalproject.com.au/
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-local-project-publication/
Print Publication – https://thelocalproject.com.au/publication/
Hardcover Book – https://thelocalproject.com.au/book/
The Local Project Marketplace – https://thelocalproject.com.au/marketplace/

Read another article:Revamped Small Barcelona Apartment Combines Multiple Styles and Finishes

To subscribe to The Local Project’s tri-annual print publication see here – https://thelocalproject.com.au/subscribe/

Photography by Diego Padilla Magallanes and Alejandro Ramírez Orozco.
Architecture by Nomad Design.
Interior design by Studio Glint.
Build and landscape design by McClure Homes Design Build.
Engineering by RA Structural Engineering.
Aluminium and timber battens by Sculptform.
Filmed and edited by O&Co. Homes.
Production by The Local Production.

Location: La Quinta, California, United States

The Local Project acknowledges the traditional territories and homelands of the Indigenous peoples in the United States. We recognise the importance of Indigenous peoples in the identity of our respective countries and continuing connections to Country and community. We pay our respect to Elders, past and present, and extend that respect to all Indigenous people of these lands.

#Desert #Home #Temple

Similar Posts

  • Blackened Wood Apartment

    Taiwanese architecture studio CTT Architects designed this interior project for a doctor in Taipei City. The apartment is located on the 21st floor of the residential tower nestled in the mountains surrounding the Taipei Basin. The design concept places emphasis on the connection to the surrounding vistas. In contrast with the original layout, the living area has been rearranged such that one can enjoy the amazing urban night views whilst introducing the external greenery inside during the day. We have also tailored the layout to meet the requirements of the client’s modern life. Following a busy day at work, he can completely unwind in the living room in the midst of the mesmerising urban night views; and be awoken by the dappled morning sunlight reflecting off the surrounding green mountains. We believed that every aspect of an interior design requires a bespoke response to its own contextual surrounding as well as to the individual needs of the occupants. The different spatial functions such as bedroom and bathroom are seen as different grey units in the public space. However, homely styling is found inside the master bedroom. Wooden finishings are used to complement subtle light grey walls allowing the stunning views to be the main element – lush green mountain landscapes. At the entrance to the apartment, the simple grey wall with a small bench gives an air of simplicity in complete contrast with the mountain views seen through the expanse of the three window units, which speak for themselves. In the kitchen and dining area, the open plan provides ample space that can be adapted flexibly to suit the changing needs of the modern city dweller. In terms of material selection, fine textured black charred timber panels are deliberately chosen to frame the surrounding mountain and city views. The design strategy is to use the black charred wall to contrast with the green and sky during the day; at night, the blackened panels blend seamlessly into the night view. The custom-made black island comes with black taps to contrast with the white kitchen joinery behind. When it comes to detailing, our approach is to delineate different architectural elements through shadow gaps. For example the walls and ceilings are detached using shadows gaps which are also accentuated by indirect lighting after sunset. Every architectural element has been detached including the ceiling, beams, and walls to showcase themselves as individual elements and avoiding detractive decorations.

  • SO House

    REVEALING THE EVIDENCE Confrontation with the reality of these ruins was always a confrontation seeped in memories. Memories
    of a place where the raw matter it is constituted of – the rock, the valley and the mountain – shows evident expression, provoking a game of fine balance between place, matter, light and shadow. We found light that dripped down the stone walls defining spaces separated only by rows of stacked rock. In each fissure, in each wrinkle, a soft balance between light and shadow. Standing before this scenery, the exercise consisted in finding the most natural way to connect ruins and spaces, simultaneously defining future possibilities for links between the interior and the exterior. Where decisions were concerned, we chose to rehabilitate pre-existing volumes and introduce a new connecting element. The answer is given by the almost immediate decision to join together the pre-existing elements. This
    gesture, deeply connected to the terrain along the pendente – connects the two sections facing west,
    forming an exterior courtyard adorned with a centenary olive tree. This project builds a space that runs through the ruins, uniting them and revealing the obvious functional relationship between the house’s programmatic areas, simultaneously differentiating the possibilities for inhabiting the exterior space. It expresses its temporality through the antagonism of matter in its relationship with pre-existing elements.