Built Despite Tiny Site: Small Stone Hillside Home Design

Designing for a hot climate, small site and hillside lot are difficult enough individual constraints for architects to overcome alone – let alone all at the same time. This marvelous little home by P + T architects manages to make the most of a seemingly difficult situation through a few critical design moves that turn problems into opportunities.

The result is a two-volume solution in which the top level overlaps the lower story to create a shield from the bright sun while also providing views out over the valley below. The odd triangular lot shape led to a complex angular form that conforms to the site without violating the legal boundaries of the buildable lot area.

Variegated stone fences create a conceptual barrier that blends in with the desert-like natural surroundings while the rectilinear wood and dark gray stone of the house proper set it apart from the landscape. In the end, this house manages to be both contextual and contemporary, using local materials but clearly differentiated as a modern home on the hill.