Kawish Court

​

Located on a private drive in the Santa Rosa foothills of Palm Desert, this 8,000 square foot, 5-bedroom, 5½ bath, 4-car garage home sits adjacent to a rocky desert hillside and verdant golf fairway. The design set out to distill the large program into discrete and intimate branches. Courtyards, a timeless desert organizational strategy and utilized here to create program clarity, provide micro-climates for visual and thermal comfort, along with contributing to hourly, daily and seasonal delight.  The program was then further focused allowing the owners, when unaccompanied, to occupy a core 2,500 square feet.  Serendipitously, the active homeowner’s daily routine does now utilize all branches of the home with the strategically located fitness and home office at opposite ends. 

 

Sustainability was optimized by siting the long wings of the plan along East-West axis with fenestration on the North and well shaded South, avoiding the heat and glare that accompany Eastern and Western glazing. Internally, the surrounding Southern and Northern mountain views are highlighted by clerestories.  While the design utilizes fully automated “smart” systems, the siting in harmony with the desert's natural forces allows daily and seasonally patterns to engage into every aspect of life.  The clients sought openness balanced with large scale walls for their extensive art collection.  Selected finish materials lend warmth, texture and color to the home, complementing and contrasting the homeowner’s high-rise living in the mid-West. The success of the home is the result of a collaborative and interactive process between the homeowners, interior designers, landscape architect, builder and specialized trade contractors.