Fielding more than three million visitors a year, Joshua Tree National Park has become a hotbed for vacation homes. To catch the wave, Elaine and Stanley Yang, the husband-and-wife team behind real estate and development firm Mini Inno, went out in search of a home that could serve as a weekend retreat and Airbnb.

“My husband and I fell in love with Joshua Tree after we moved to Los Angeles from the Bay Area about four years ago,” says Elaine. “We would find ourselves escaping there every chance we could get; there was something about the area that kept drawing us back, and we even got married in the park last year.”

While they were hoping to find a homestead cabin on a few acres, those types of properties had become rare. Instead, the couple fell in love with a 2,000-square-foot ranch home built in 1966. Sitting on 3.6 acres, it’s only 11 minutes from the park and six minutes from downtown. The two-bed, two-bath home, however, had gone through various remodels over the years and needed a unifying refresh. “We felt the layout of the home already flowed well, so we saved money by not having to do any major reconfigurations or taking down any load-bearing walls,” says Elaine.

Before: Exterior

After: Exterior

Before: Patio

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After: Patio

Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

Shop the Look

Before: Living Room

After: Living Room

After: Tea Room

Before: Master Suite

After: Master Suite

Before: Guest Bedroom

After: Guest Bedroom

After: Guest Bathroom

Related Reading:

A Couple Buy a Collapsing Cabin For $7K in Joshua Tree and Revamp it Into a Desert Oasis

Construction Diary: A Couple Build a Moroccan-Inspired Retreat in Joshua Tree

4 Design Mantras the Owners of This Popular Joshua Tree Retreat Swear By

Project Credits:

General Contractor: Chris Terres of CT General Contracting / @ctgeneral

Interior Design: Mini Inno / @miniinno

Other: Vickie Yang of Hwy Studio

Photographer: Stanley Yang/@stanleyyangphotography

Appears In

Before & After: A Joshua Tree Midcentury Serves Up Moroccan Vibes