House of Five Dreams: Rammed Earth Eco Home Keeps its Cool in the Sonoran Desert

The House of Five Dreams by<a href="http://www.jonesstudioinc.com/21/index.htm"> Jones Studio inc</a> is a light-filled masterpiece that rests upon a lower level made from massive 4 foot-thick rammed earth walls. The 30,000 square foot house is huge, but most of its volume rests comfortably inside the <a href="http://rammedearth.org/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=1&amp;Itemid=2">earthen walls</a>, which serve as a gallery for the owner’s collection of art and artifacts. The luminous residence above is protected from the sun by a movable screened wall which opens up to provide views of the <a href="http://inhabitat.com/desert-topped-gateway-building-blends-in-with-magestic-mcdowell-sonoran-preserve/">Sonoran Desert</a>.

The project combines a modern house with a private museum, forging a synthesis between two different design aesthetics. The 6000 square-foot residence rests on its massive rammed earth base like a display glass box set on a pedestal.

The residence is a clean white box <a href="http://inhabitat.com/spanish-highrise-keeps-its-cool-under-a-double-skin/">wrapped in a mesh skin</a> that covers the glass to filter the intense desert sun. The white interior continues the clean and simple aesthetic.

A dramatic undulating bank of stacked 1/4” glass slabs scales the full three stories of the building. The 75 foot glass wall creates a dramatic play of light and shape that is offset by the minimalist interior design.

The glass wall wraps the elevator.

The panel of windows is shrouded by a hinged screen, which lowers when temperatures are temperate to reveal the surrounding desert scene.

The lower level is the heart of the project - it holds a large private museum and archives. <a href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=rammed+earth">Rammed earth</a> walls 4 feet thick surround the volume, naturally regulating the interior's temperature and humidity.

Architect Eddy Jones was inspired by the fact that much of the collection was found in the ground, thus the museum is a fitting tribute to the objects' histories. Massive exposed steel I-beams hold up the floor above, adding an industrial quality to the raw earth rooms.

Natural light from above highlights that seductive aqua-hued <a href="http://inhabitat.com/heineken-wobo-the-brick-that-holds-beer/">glass wall</a>, which binds the entire space together.