The living, kitchen and dining cube is 780 square feet, the bedroom is 440 square feet, and the office is 200 square feet; each unit faces in a different direction and boasts floor to ceiling 1/2 inch thick glass windows that keep the home insulated while also establishing a keen intimacy with nature.
More art than architecture, the Desert Nomad House is a minimalist structure furnished with simple materials. The flooring is made of maple wood (as it was built more than 6 years ago, we’re not certain whether it was sustainably sourced) and the interior panels of maple veneer. A gas stove rounds out the home’s energy efficiency, and a sunken fire pit outside gives it a final rustic touch. There’s just one caveat: last year this extraordinary piece of real estate was listed for $975,000 – almost triple what it originally cost to build!
+ Desert Nomad House
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Rick Joy’s terrarium-like Desert Nomad House consists of 3 rusted steel cubes set among a field of towering Saguaro cacti at the base of Arizona’s Tucson Mountains. The three buildings of varying sizes make up less than 1,500 square feet combined and a
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This gorgeous home is set at the base of Arizona’s Tucson Mountains
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Rick Joy – the designer – considers it more art than architecture
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The home consists of 3 cubes of various sizes
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They are oriented differently and surrounded by towering Saguaro cacti
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Combined, the cubes make up less than 1,500 square feet
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The buildings are clad in weathered steel
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Floor to ceiling glass on each building establishes a keen intimacy with nature
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At 1/2 an inch thick, the glass also keeps the home well-insulated
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The interior floors are made of maple and the panelling of maple veneer, keeping it simple
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Natural light floods the home
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This facade ensures excellent ventilation
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The contrast between the Saguaros, blue sky, and the rusted steel is absolutely breathtaking, we think.
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At night, there’s hardly any separation from the Sonorran desert wilderness and inside!
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