When building a house on a gorgeous desert hillside, you have some significant website planning and technology to think about. When designing a house nestled into the side of a rocky hill outside Phoenix, architects Jon Bernhard and Mike Wetzel of Swabuck Partners knew they had to bring in the engineers and the big trucks — large trucks filled with massive boulders. The boulders assured that the hillside was stable and kept its natural beauty, and they enhanced the way the house and its built landscape related to the spectacular surroundings.

The architects have been”guided by the owners’ appreciation for outdoor living as well as the qualities the native desert offers,” says Bernhard. Single-slope, computer-engineered roofs accompany the slope of the hillside. “The deep roof slopes fit and follow the mountain slope, and cantilevered terraces soften the home’s imprint on the property,” says Bernhard. “This light touch on the website is further symbolized with the usage of desert colors, textures and by blurring the line between the indigenous and the man-made by participating boulders and landscaping within the living spaces.” This included integrating water, which cascades down the hill and appears to continue upon the terrace and out beyond the entrance.

All the interior spaces take full advantage of the natural lighting and surrounding views, and it’s hard to understand where the insides end and the outside begins. Both inside and outside, spaces range from towering and receptive to small and intimate.

Since this house transitions so easily from front to rear, side to side, and inside and outside, it’s only fitting that we will be hopping from outside to inside and back out again along this tour.

at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of five
Location: Outside of Phoenix, Arizona
Size: 19,000 square feet; on about 5 acres; 4 bedrooms, including a guest house with 1 bedroom and one bath
That’s intriguing: Some of those boulders added into the website proved so big that they had been brought in singly on their own trucks.

Swaback Partners, pllc

An axis of water ties the front of the house to the back. A waterfall flows down from the top of the hill, and due to this axis, there is an illusion that it flows beneath the rear patio, is brought through the house and terminates at this fountain.

Swaback Partners, pllc

The single-slope roof structures follow the slope of the hillside, making the house seem to be a part of the hill. The municipality didn’t need a three-story structure, so a garage is cleverly tucked underneath the primary living floor (far left side of this picture ), even though a master suite occupies the upper floor over a different portion of the house (toward the ideal side of this picture ). The construction you find on the far right is another guest house.

“We implemented boulders into the sides of the walls along the drive to make it seem like it was carved out of the hillside,” says Wetzel.

Swaback Partners, pllc

The main entryway is an inviting gem box also makes the most of local materials and light. The entrance door consists of 5-inch-thick mahogany panels floating between layers of laminated glass. A grid of 21 panels of onyx appears to float across the entrance. During the day the sun glows through; backlighting provides a warm and inviting glow at night.

Swaback Partners, pllc

The front door is aligned with an expanse of glass that opens out to the backyard and a view of the hillside. The grid of onyx hovering overhead highlights the axis in the front entrance to rear. The water also highlights the link by the hillside waterfall into the fountain in the front.

Swaback Partners, pllc

An individual can follow the water out of the pool and fountain out front into the pools round the rear entrance and up the hill.

“The hillside was reconstructed to stabilize it,” clarifies Wetzel. This meant that the existing hillside was covered in a geotech mesh for security, and boulders were brought in and proceeded to pay for it. The team engineered the waterfall found previously, which offers soothing sound and brings the eye up to the top of the hill.

Swaback Partners, pllc

Through the front door, a gallery-like hallway leads to the fantastic room.

Swaback Partners, pllc

At the excellent room a grid of Fossil Creek flagstone highlights verticality. “The 24-inch by 24-inch grid lines continue up to the swimming pool and the guest house,” says Wetzel. This is one of those design moves that joins the inside and exterior design.

Swaback Partners, pllc

The towering ceiling in the excellent room articulates the hillside-driven incline of the roof.

Swaback Partners, pllc

“The indoor design and the outdoor architecture each speak for themselves, but they also blend together really well,” notes Wetzel.

Swaback Partners, pllc

The entrance terrace leads from the garage level up into the front door. The guest house is located on the ideal side of this image.

Split-face Mesastone adds purple-haze colors in the mountain into the facade and introduces a different feel. Weathered penny copper adds to the glow overhead.

Swaback Partners, pllc

Pocket doors open the fantastic room up to the entrance terrace. Large cantilevers offer shade from the Arizona sun, keep the house cooler and make terraces. In addition they produce a transitional space that continues to blur the lines between inside and outside.

Swaback Partners, pllc

“Substantial lengths of glass and clerestory windows offer natural daylight during every room in the house,” says Bernhard. “Floor-to-ceiling glass and also the avoidance of finish-material changes at exterior wall lines deliver expansive indoor-outdoor living environments.”

Swaback Partners, pllc

The sheets of glass that you see about that breakfast area are pocket doors, which transform the enclosed room to an al fresco dining space with a few straightforward slides.

Swaback Partners, pllc

The kitchen picks up on a darker desert palette that includes Red Dragon granite and Wingate black cabinetry. Smaller-scale components, like the backsplash tiles, make a more intimate feel.

Swaback Partners, pllc

In a house so receptive to the exterior, solitude is essential. Metal mesh sunglasses provide it in this powder room.

Swaback Partners, pllc

A bedroom opens into a mountain patio and abuts 12-foot by 18-foot boulders. “We placed each of the boulders to look natural and not contrived,” says Wetzel.

Swaback Partners, pllc

Constructed up into the hillside, this bath enjoys a grand view of the boulders.

Swaback Partners, pllc

“Anywhere we can monopolize on integrating the natural light to the inside, we did,” says Wetzel. Case in point: The deficiency of risers on such white oak staircase opens up the view to the large window at the landing.

Swaback Partners, pllc

Upstairs, a sitting room in the master suite gets the top floor its own retreat.

Swaback Partners, pllc

“We altered the grid in the master bath to make it more human scale,” explains Wetzel. The 24-inch by 18-inch limestone highlights horizontal lines, while green slate presents a new substance and cooler colors.

Swaback Partners, pllc

“The master bedroom has a to-die-for view,” says Wetzel. “You seem out to the mountains and will see the city lights in the distance.” To take advantage of this opinion, a motorized 12-foot x 15-foot doorway opens into a private patio that has a fire pit.

Added soft light comes in the Sapele mahogany ceiling coffers.

Swaback Partners, pllc

The view from the top of the hill to the backyard is spectacular. An upper patio with its own fire pit provides an intimate, tucked-away outdoor area and a view of the city lights at night.

Swaback Partners, pllc

The designers made certain that the tint of the patio’s cement matched the landscape.

Swaback Partners, pllc

Well-placed boulders cleverly conceal an outdoor shower, providing solitude yet keeping the open-air feeling.

The job took 20 weeks from begin to finish, including all of the extensive site work. “On a job like this, it’s always scary at the start to see how much has to be done. It is an excellent feeling to receive it right, down to the tiniest details, and execute something outstanding,” says Wetzel.

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When Noor Grewal-Virk and Vincent Virk bought their North Vancouver, British Columbia, residence they had to decide between carrying a full renovation with 2 young daughters or producing effect with decor and paint. They chose the latter. Grewal-Virk considers every space deserves respect and love, whether you spend a third of the time in your living room or in the event that you just pass by it in the hallway. “You should let your space lure all of your senses,” she states. “Make it inspire you!” As principal and interior designer of Noor G.V. Interiors, Grewal-Virk designed each corner of her home to inspire her family.

in a Glance
Who lives here: Noor Grewal-Virk, Vincent Virk and their two daughters, Zehan (4 years) and Ajooni (22 months)
Location: Braemar Park, North Vancouver
Size: 2,450 square feet; 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
That’s interesting: A vertical yellow stripe in the dining room is inspired by a beam of sun.

Megan Buchanan

Grewal-Virk painted the first brick fireplace surround a dark grey to make a neutral background for the room. A large round mirror aids bounce light around, and the round motif is repeated throughout the room. A huge area rug adds texture and pattern, while a modern white round coffee table floats in the middle.

Cedric couch and Strike coffee table: Urban Barn; wall decal and spiral painting: Home Sense; tall red chest: Moe’s Home

Megan Buchanan

Grewal-Virk’s decorating philosophy is to keep things easy and create impact with graphic and daring specifics. “I knew from the start I wanted to include a blend of grey and yellowish. But each time that I take on a job, I let my environment inspire me,” she states. “I believe in being open-minded concerning what I will discover, and I’ve always found bits that help me make something new and out of the box.”

Next to the fireplace, a comfy seating area for 2 rounds outside the living room area.

Megan Buchanan

A huge bay window runs the entire length of the living room. Grewal-Virk states this is only one of her favourite places to unwind at home to enjoy the perspective of their tree-lined neighborhood.

Megan Buchanan

The vibrant fabric used in this upholstered seat speaks to her pursuits. “My courses that focused on architecture and interior design in the early, medieval and modern world were the most interesting to me. These were the classes in which my initial love for layout and curiosity in background came together,” Grewal-Virk explains.

Upholstered Bergere seat: Home Sense

Megan Buchanan

“I’m inspired by history, nature, people and style,” Grewal-Virk states. Some of her favourite books are piled behind the couch.

Megan Buchanan

From the dining room, a fun typography-upholstered seat sits in the head of this table. A floating storage device that is grey and white gives a storage for tableware and anchors the feature wall.

Megan Buchanan

The large dining table seats eight people. Six velvety nail-head seats run along each side of the desk. Each seat includes a pull ring on the trunk, which is something Grewal-Virk thought could be fun for her daughters to interact with.

Megan Buchanan

If something were to happen to the house, Grewal-Virk states the first things she’d grab are her shadow boxes. “One of these has a tiny pillow my grandmother made for my dollhouse when I was a tiny girl, and another box has my dad’s police uniform whistle,” she states. Grewal-Virk considers in paying tribute to things with emotional significance. “When the family sees them every day, especially your children, it will help them understand a small amount of their particular history and where they came from.”

Megan Buchanan

Grewal-Virk says she isn’t reluctant to experiment. “I didn’t plan to put a bar in the living room,” she says, “but I found this gorgeous rustic piece in Urban Barn and knew I had to make a spot for it.” This piece is manufactured from laminated wood, possibly drained cherry trees or damaged ships. The family owns a marina in the Okanagan Valley, and this piece has been made to look like a classic piece used to store life jackets. The funky orange pub stool was a fantastic and surprising find at London Drugs.

Megan Buchanan

This tequila set is placed on a vertical shelf along with other gathered travel bits. A chalkboard wall invites family and friends to write fun notes and happy-hour recipes.

Wall Area: Lack, Ikea

Megan Buchanan

This glass-tile kitchen backsplash has been in place when the family bought the home. Grewal-Virk utilizes glass jars across the surface of the range to make a spice vignette. Her next home project is to reestablish the kitchen. She states, “It truly is the heart of the home, and I enjoy cooking — on most days.”

Megan Buchanan

A more informal eat-in option in the kitchen allows for meal preparation and interaction with kids and guests in the family room outside.

Megan Buchanan

Grewal-Virk’s favorite designer is Candice Olsen. She says, “I like that she’s gutsy and not reluctant to make tension and contrast in a distance.”

The entertainment device in the family room doubles as toy storage as well. Grewal-Virk desired the upper cabinets to be within easy access, making for quick cleanup if the space should change from a kids’ playroom into a fun area.

Karlstad sectional, networking cupboard and art: Ikea; coffee table: Liquidation World

Megan Buchanan

Grewal-Virk’s favorite places to shop for your home include Home Sense, Ikea, Urban Barn, Moe’s and Once Upon a Tree. Her fantasy splurge? “An initial Salvador Dalí painting. That would be my ultimate dream home item.”

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Cottage isn’t just a decorating style. Cozy, joyful and unpretentious, it harks back to simpler times and evokes a feeling of simple, carefree living. And since the kitchen is usually one of the busiest spots in the house, it is logical to translate that mindset to your cabinetry, appliances, fixtures and more. If you are arranging a kitchen remodel or remodel, consider these ways to infuse your kitchen with cabin comfort.

More kitchen styles:
Vintage | Conventional | Transitional | Modern | Contemporary | Eclectic | Craftsman | Mediterranean

CapeRace Cultural Adventures

1. Soft colours. The cabin palette is usually light and airy, and kitchens follow suit. It’s difficult to go wrong with crisp, classic white, but soft yellowish, pale turquoise or mild khaki all seem appropriate and fresh also. Or try a mixture of cabinetry colours: one shade on the island with a contrasting hue on the cabinets.

Erotas Building Corporation

2. Open shelving. Installed in place of conventional upper chimney, spacious shelving recalls the days when kitchens were utilitarian than cosmetic. Not just was cabinetry pricey, but open shelves allowed cooks to retrieve tools and dishes quickly. Nowadays open shelves are as much about aesthetics as about design: Their openness helps make a space feel bigger, and they frequently house accessories along with kitchen implements.

You do not need to be obsessively neat and organized for open shelving to seem attractive, but you will want to make an attempt to not allow clutter build. Keeping dishware to one colour, as shown here, creates a dramatic effect.

Group 3

3. Beadboard. Nothing says cabin kitchen clearly than beadboard. This grooved style of paneling warms cabinetry and walls and provides architectural interest with a minimum of fuss. Because it has so much visual impact, you do not require much to make a cabin impact. Go the classic path and then paint it a creamy colour, choose the same hue as your cabinetry or sand it marginally for an obsolete, distressed look.

Garrison Hullinger Interior Design Inc..

4. Farmhouse sinks. Also called apron-front sinks, these beauties have made a comeback in recent decades. They feature a broad, shallow head and an extra-deep bowl which can accommodate large pots or heaps of dishes. Farmhouse sinks create a feeling of country living, yet they’re unfussy enough to work with cleaner-lined spaces. Even though some versions on the market have raised or cosmetic detailing, streamlined styles such as the one displayed here would be the most classic.

The Workshops of David T. Smith

5. Furniture-style cupboard details. Years back, before cupboards since we know them came into fashion, freestanding armoires, pie safes and presses were the guideline. Evoke that time frame with the addition of furniture features to built-ins. Tuck bun feet beneath lower cupboards and corbels beneath upper ones, or paint an integrated hutch a contrasting shade to provide the illusion it isn’t fixed.

Witt Construction

6. Cup pulls. Cup-style drawer pulls, like those that might have been found in an old-fashioned general shop, give an excess dash of time flavor to cabin kitchens. Pick a finish with patina, such as oil-rubbed bronze or brushed nickel.

7. Hardwood flooring. Before carpeting became de rigeur, hardwood floors were the standard, and they match cabin kitchen style. You can either leave the planks bare to demonstrate the natural splendor of the grain or paint them in a solid colour or a pattern like checkerboard. However, hardwoods aren’t the only choice for cabin kitchen flooring — linoleum, vintage-look tile or perhaps slate could work also.

Whitten Architects

8. Pendant lights. Low-hanging pendants help a kitchen feel comfy and also provide all-important task lighting. Select models which have a retro feel, with colors of weathered or weathered glass or brushed nickel. If you prefer, combine the pendants with vintage-inspired sconces and perhaps even a lamp or two to make a gathered feel.

In this show: How to Find Your Kitchen Design | How to Remodel Your Kitchen

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