South Mountain Residence courtyard with a flagstone plaza, boulder fountain, timber pergola, and arched loggia framed by desert plantings
Laveen, AZ — Residential

South Mountain Residence

All Work
LocationLaveen, AZ
TypeSingle-Family Residence + Casita
Square FootageMain Residence — 4,930 sq ft
Casita — 870 sq ft
CharacterDesert Courtyard Home
StatusIn Construction
RoomsMain Residence — 4 Bed · 4 Bath
Casita — 2 Bed · 1 Bath

A single-story home at the foot of South Mountain, built around a shaded courtyard, an arched loggia, and a landscape of native desert plants — low, thick-walled, and at ease in the Sonoran light. A detached two-bedroom casita gives guests and family their own quarters across the site.

Architectural Services
  • Residential Design
  • Site & Landscape Planning
  • Construction Coordination

The house is composed as a series of flat-roofed plaster volumes, each stepped in height and finished with a crisp parapet cornice, so the long street elevation reads as a small cluster of buildings rather than a single mass. Deep-set windows with warm bronze frames punch the thick walls, and copper rain chains drain the roof into cisterns along the facade.

At the center of the plan, a flagstone courtyard gathers the home around a boulder fountain. A timber pergola casts striped shade along one wing, and a run of arches opens the main living spaces onto a covered loggia facing the mountain.

Landscape was planned together with the building: agave, barrel cactus, prickly pear, and succulents are massed in gravel beds and along flagstone paths, all low-water species at home on the site.

South Mountain Residence street elevation: stepped plaster volumes with parapet cornices, bronze-framed windows, rain chains, and desert landscaping
Side elevation in rose-toned plaster with tall bronze-framed windows, a flagstone path, and barrel cactus and agave plantings

Interiors

Inside, the palette stays light and calm — pale timber ceiling beams, white plaster, and warm wood, with folding glass walls that dissolve the living room into the loggia and courtyard beyond.

Living room with exposed pale timber beams, a built-in wood media wall with display niches, and folding glass doors opening to an arched loggia
Kitchen with cream shaker cabinetry to the ceiling, a plaster range hood, a large quartz island with stools, and geometric copper pendants beneath timber beams Primary bathroom with a floating wood vanity and makeup desk, capsule mirror, lilac stacked-tile wainscot, and a glass-enclosed shower with bench

The kitchen carries the same beams overhead, with cream shaker cabinetry running floor to ceiling, a smooth plaster hood, and a generous island that seats the whole family beneath a pair of geometric copper pendants. An arched doorway leads on to the rest of the home.

The primary bath adds a quiet note of color: soft lilac stacked tile wraps the room as a wainscot and lines the walk-in shower, set against a floating wood vanity with a built-in makeup desk and a capsule mirror.