Luxe Magazine

desert dialogue. w r i t t e n b y c a r en k u r l a n d er

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p h o t o g r a p h y b y b i l l t i mmer ma n

“you

can’t design a house like this without a good

c l i e n t ,” a r c h i t e c t j o n b e r n h a r d s a y s o f t h e s t r i k i n g hillside residence he helped create for one arizona couple.

“You need to have a homeowner that lets go of the reins

and says, ‘Let’s have some fun.’ ”

interior design David Michael Miller, David Michael Miller Associates

architecture Jon Bernhard, AIA, and Mike Wetzel, AIA,

Swaback Partners

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home builder Aaron Genova, Linthicum

bedrooms 4

bathrooms 8

open season Architects Jon Bernhard and Mike Wetzel fashioned a contemporary house with a strong connection to its Arizona site. The front door, made with horizontal bands of sapele wood and laminated glass, opens to a small entrance hall that leads to an outdoor seating area.

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Though the clients played a crucial role in the success of their new home, so did the talented team they assembled to design it. From the beginning, Bernhard, along with fellow architect and project manager Mike Wetzel, collaborated with interior designer David Michael Miller and builder Aaron Genova to fulfill the homeowners’ wish for a contemporary yet comfortable house that would make the most of the mild climate and engage its rocky, sloping site.

Although the steep property afforded sweeping mountain views, it also posed an early challenge for the team. “It had a lot of constraints,” explains Bernhard, “but rather than fight them, we celebrated them.”

To capture the ideal site, the architects needed to build high on the hill, 188 l u x e i n t e r i o r s

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block party A flagstone wall grounds the great room, where interior designer David Michael Miller used Troscan console tables to separate the music room from a formal seating area. A Holly Hunt Studio sofa covered in Christopher Hyland fabric sits hearthside.

bank job In lieu of a formal dining room, Miller designed a streamlined breakfast nook off the kitchen.

Glass pendants by Alison Berger illuminate the custom banquette covered with Pierre Frey fabric. Artwork is from Robert Kelly’s Espejos series.

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f i r e wa l l The home’s more subdued palette switches to warm tones of red in the kitchen, which is outfitted with Varenna cabinetry from Poliform.

A Wolf stove, purchased through Westar, is paired with a custom stainless-steel hood.

Axis barstools pull up to the island’s brushedgranite countertop from Cactus Stone.

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but when the builders began cutting into the slope, they encountered a surprise. “The earth had oxidized and fractured,” says Genova, “so we had to stabilize it before we could begin construction.”

This setback was turned into an advantage with the combined efforts of landscape designers Jeff Berghoff, Todd Neill and Donna Winters.

An inviting back terrace was created with huge boulders and integrated water features artfully camouflaging the bolts and mesh used to anchor the mountainside, while the rest of the property was thoughtfully planted to mimic the natural desert topography.

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lounge act Miller chose comfortable furnishings meant for lounging in the family room. Holly Hunt’s 900 sectional bends around a table by Christian Liaigre, while Edelman Leather’s Royal Suede covers an armchair purchased at John Brooks Incorporated. Ted Boerner game chairs surround Jiun Ho’s Ulu table from Thomas Lavin.

c rys ta l c l e a r A floor-to-ceiling, 14-foot-tall wall of glass separates the main courtyard from the interior gallery hallway. Vertical glass fins help provide structural support from strong winds. The interior plants throughout are from Pearson & Company.

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Once the land was settled, the architects turned to the clients’ requirements: a large three-bedroom residence, plus guesthouse, with his-and-her offices. This translated into a massive masonry-and-stone structure that steps up the hill in three levels—ground-floor living areas, a master suite on top and a garage below—and features a sprawling floor plan copper top A sculptural copper roof flanks an onyx-paneled skylight over the entry hall. Miller chose hefty designs from David Sutherland, upholstered with Perennials fabric, for the outdoor terrace, which connects to the music room through glass pocket doors. Inside, Rose Tarlow Melrose House chairs offer seating near a piano.

woven together with a series of courtyards and terraces. Large custom windows frame expansive vistas, and glass pocket doors slide away to allow interior spaces to spill outside and back in again.

“In some houses there’s an exterior story, and then inside it’s a totally different animal,” says Miller. “We all knew that with the nature of this house, the two had to be harmonious.” To encourage the interaction luxe interiors

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between indoors and outdoors, Miller selected materials in a khaki and greige color palette pulled from the landscape. Limestone floors flow from

quiet hours In the husband’s study, a wood desk from Antoine Proulx complements the custom wall shelving built by Woodesign. A Berkshire chair and ottoman pair with Jasper’s Parker side table near the fireplace.

the terraces to the interior spaces, while Fossil Creek flagstone stacked from floor to ceiling forms a dramatic double-height core.

Given the monumental quality of the structure, Miller chose furnishings for their comfort, scale and earthy character. “I wanted the interiors to be subdued and take second position to the architecture,” he explains.

Playing off the tones of the flagstone wall, Miller appointed a small b lu e c r u s h Miller designed the rugs throughout the house and had them made through Hokanson Carpet. In the wife’s office, he chose an icy blue shade in a fretwork pattern to play off the white-oak millwork and desk, which he also designed.

sitting area in the great room with a cream-colored sofa and a bronzeand-vellum table. Jeup club chairs and an ottoman covered with fabrics in colors such as cognac and ancient bronze play off the copper-hued integral plaster finish on the walls.

On the other side of the wall, Miller accented the family room’s leather sectional sofa with graphic Great Plains fabric and chose high-polished

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polyester resin in a reddish hue for the kitchen’s island and interior cabinetry. Glass pendants hang above the island and in the adjacent breakfast nook, where a built-in banquette provides casual seating.

Upstairs, the designer quieted the palette by transitioning to celadon-

cool down The master bedroom was kept minimally furnished to enhance the mountain views. A custom bed fabricated by Therien features a stone-topped headboard inspired by origami designs. A lounge chair from David Sutherland basks on the private master terrace.

hued textiles. “I wanted the master suite to be cooler and more soothing,” says Miller, who kept furnishings to a minimum so as not to detract from the view. A custom-designed bed faces floor-to-ceiling glass pocket doors, which open to a private terrace overlooking the mountains.

As with the rest of the house, the transition between the sophisticated interior and desert landscape is seamless. “When you have a common design philosophy, you can’t see where the architect ended and the designer began,” explains Bernhard. “Then you have an outside and inside that talk to each other, and that’s where the magic happens.” L

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naturally modern In an upstairs powder room, Miller designed sleek millwork and hung a custom mirror

by Metalworks above a terrazzo counter surface by Waterworks. The modern faucet is from Dornbracht’s MEM series, and the sconce is by Christian Liaigre.