High Desert House exterior

11 Homes That Capture the Spirit of Joshua Tree

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Upon purchasing a 10-acre plot surrounded by a cluster of boulders, a couple wrote a handwritten letter to architect Kendrick Bangs Kellogg, which resulted in the 5,000-square-foot High Desert House on the edge of Joshua Tree National Park. Kellog spent five years designing a home that would settle into the landscape, "crouching on the rocks, maybe like an animal asleep." The house features 26 freestanding concrete columns reminiscent of rib bones, and a glass ceiling that fills the home with daylight and views of the stars at night.