6 organic homes in the desert
Featuring a meditation dome in New Mexico and a home surrounding a giant boulder in Arizona
Joshua Tree, California
The Bonita Domes is an enclave of reinforced adobe structures in the Mojave Desert near Joshua Tree National Park. This 2014 property comprises a main dome with two bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen with breakfast nook and a living room; a studio; two sleeping pods; a shower house; and an ornately carved wooden meditation temple.
The 2-acre lot includes a pool and spa, a firepit, an outdoor kitchen, and desert landscaping. $1,799,999. James Bianco, Coldwell Banker Realty, (760) 808-0650.
Ribera, New Mexico
Windhorse Farm, an equestrian estate 40 minutes from Santa Fe, spans 33 acres on the Pecos River. The spiral-shaped pueblo-style home has five bedrooms, an open main area with terrazzo floors, viga-beam ceilings and flagstone kiva fireplace; an eat-in kitchen and a meditation dome with a view deck.
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Outside are a courtyard with fountains and ponds, an artesian swimming hole, a guesthouse, a four-stall barn, a covered arena, irrigated pastures, historic ruins and wildlife. $2,375,000. Kitty Hudson, Santa Fe Properties/ Luxury Portfolio International, (970) 685-8988.
Carefree, Arizona
Designed by architect Gerry Jones, this 1983 modern pueblo house blends into the Sonoran Desert foothills and encompasses a giant boulder that juts into several rooms. The three-bedroom home features a living room with kiva fireplace, beamed ceiling and wall of windows framing city and desert.
The 1.57-acre lot has multiple stone patios undulating around the rocks, including one with an organically shaped pool, fire pit and sweeping views. $3,500,000. Debbie Sinagoga, Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty, (480) 703-2299.
Pioneertown, California
This retreat with a two-bedroom home, storage barn and garage sits on 10 acres in the Mojave Desert’s Morongo Basin, walking distance from a saloon with world-class live music. The 1990 ranch-style house has passive solar, eclectic interiors, 20-foot ceilings, a cone fireplace, a stone-clad feature wall, glass sliders, and a primary bedroom with loft
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Outside are a pool with a redwood deck, desert landscaping, sculptures, wildlife, and a 1,000-year-old Joshua tree. $3,700,000. Frank Sullivan, Coldwell Banker Realty, (619) 249-2673.
Palm Springs, California
Alohaus, a four-bedroom double A-frame home by architect Charles Du Bois, is in Vista Las Palmas, in the Colorado Desert’s Coachella Valley at the edge of the San Jacinto Mountains. The 1958 Polynesian-inspired home features an ornate carved-wood door, concrete floors, vaulted shiplap ceilings and clerestory windows; a living room with a stacked-stone fireplace; and a glass-walled dining space.
Out back is a hedged-in patio area with a pool, a lawn and palm trees. $2,498,000. Scott Histed, Bennion Deville Fine Homes, (760) 218-1751.
Marfa, Texas
The small West Texas city famed as an arts hub is in the Trans-Pecos area of the Chihuahuan Desert. This 2020 two-bedroom property, four minutes’ drive from Marfa’s major attractions, features two corrugated-steel houses, each with standing-seam metal roof, polished concrete flooring, wood-clad interior walls, bedroom and bath, compact full kitchen, and patio screened by breeze-block walls.
The xeriscaped lot includes a carport and insulated utility shed. $465,000. Lauren Meader Fowlkes, Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty, (432) 295-2849.
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