The client brief was simple: create a modest home without removing a single Pinyon tree, embrace the desert climate, and frame the always changing vistas from within. An attitude about the home emerged after camping onsite to absorb the nuances of the microclimate, the vast diurnal temperature swings, the positioning of thetrees and boulders, and the shifting light conditions across the mountain ranges. The home is a simple framing device to observe the surrounding terrain. The structure’s geometry is quiet and crisp, intentionally contrasting the organic forms of the desert, and low to the ground to minimize its presence. The home’s diagram is a triptych of elements: a floating roof plane, a collection of wooden volumes and two anchor walls. The square roof hovers over the home to provide respite from the sun in its opaque form and as a porous wooden lattice. The seven rectilinear volumes contain the program, acting as one mass that splits apart and into the landscape to maximize the surrounding terrain and create a critical open space in the home’s center. The juxtaposition of two concrete walls creates a void that guides one from the garage to the home’s glazed entry.