02Houses · California
The Man Who Let a Boulder Into the Living Room
Albert Frey spent half a century in Palm Springs. His second home, perched above the city, was built around a granite rock he simply refused to move.
Teo Marchetti · 2 min
The Light IssueAutumn 2026
Field notes on desert modernism
Built for
the sun.
Glass pavilions, butterfly roofs and stone camps — a travel journal for the modernist desert, from Palm Springs to West Texas.
“In the desert, every building is a negotiation with the sun. The good ones win by giving in.”
Letter from the editor
After the war, a handful of architects arrived in the American desert and found it the perfect laboratory: endless light, cheap land, clients who wanted to escape. What they built — thin roofs, glass walls, screens of concrete lace — still looks like the future. This issue goes looking for it, with a full tank and an early alarm.
— Ines Calloway, Editor
Houses · Icons — Palm Springs, California
The Glass Pavilion at the Foot of the Mountain
Richard Neutra's Kaufmann Desert House turned a winter retreat into a manifesto — a pinwheel of glass, steel and shade that still makes the San Jacinto range look like set dressing.
- Architect
- Richard Neutra
- Built
- 1946
02
03Field Guide · Palm Springs
A Field Guide to the Butterfly Roof
Why do so many Palm Springs houses look like they're about to take flight? A short history of the inverted gable, the developers who mass-produced it, and where to spot the best ones.
Ines Calloway · 2 min
04Field Guide · California
Screen Test: In Praise of the Breeze Block
The humble perforated concrete block was invented to tame the sun. It ended up becoming the signature ornament of an entire desert style.
Rosa Villanueva · 1 min
Contents
8 stories in this issue
- 01Houses · Icons — Palm Springs, CaliforniaThe Glass Pavilion at the Foot of the MountainRichard Neutra's Kaufmann Desert House turned a winter retreat into a manifesto — a pinwheel of glass, steel and shade that still makes the San Jacinto range look like set dressing.Richard Neutra · 1946
- 02Houses · Icons — Palm Springs, CaliforniaThe Man Who Let a Boulder Into the Living RoomAlbert Frey spent half a century in Palm Springs. His second home, perched above the city, was built around a granite rock he simply refused to move.Albert Frey · 1964
- 03Field Guide — Twin Palms & Vista Las Palmas, Palm SpringsA Field Guide to the Butterfly RoofWhy do so many Palm Springs houses look like they're about to take flight? A short history of the inverted gable, the developers who mass-produced it, and where to spot the best ones.Palmer & Krisel · 1957
- 04Field Guide · Details — Coachella Valley, CaliforniaScreen Test: In Praise of the Breeze BlockThe humble perforated concrete block was invented to tame the sun. It ended up becoming the signature ornament of an entire desert style.Various · 1950s–60s
- 05Icons · Road Trips — North Palm Canyon Drive, Palm SpringsFill Her Up: The Gas Station That Became a GatewayAlbert Frey and Robson Chambers' 1965 Tramway station has a roof like a paper plane in a thermal. It sold gasoline for decades. Now it sells Palm Springs.Albert Frey & Robson Chambers · 1965
- 06Road Trips · Houses — Wonder Valley & Joshua Tree, CaliforniaFive Acres and a Shack: The Jackrabbit Homesteads of Joshua TreeLong before the boutique rentals, the federal government gave away tiny plots of high desert to anyone willing to build. What's left is the most honest architecture in California.Anonymous homesteaders · 1938–1960s
- 07Icons · Road Trips — Scottsdale, ArizonaDesert Masonry: Frank Lloyd Wright's Camp in the SonoranTaliesin West began as a winter camp for Wright and his apprentices. Built of the desert itself, it became one of the most radical buildings of the century.Frank Lloyd Wright · Begun 1937
- 08Road Trips · Icons — Marfa, TexasOne Hundred Boxes in West TexasDonald Judd moved to a tiny ranching town in the Chihuahuan Desert and turned an old army base into a permanent argument about space, light and time.Donald Judd · 1979–1986
The Field Guide
Learn to read the desert.
Six words that will change the way you see every carport, motel and gas station between here and Texas.
Fig. 1
n. · /ˈbʌt.ər.flaɪ ruːf/
Butterfly roof
An inverted gable: two roof planes rising toward the outer edges and meeting in a central valley. It lifts the façade, opens space for high windows, and turns a tract house into something that looks ready for take-off.
Where to spot itTwin Palms and Vista Las Palmas, Palm Springs
Read the story →The Route · ≈ 900 miles
Palm Springs to Marfa, one roofline at a time.
Stop 1 · Mile 0
Palm Springs CA
Start at the gas station. Stay for the rooflines.
The Glass Pavilion at the Foot of the Mountain
+ 4 more from here
Stop 2 · Mile 60
Joshua Tree CA
Homestead cabins under the biggest sky in California.
Five Acres and a Shack: The Jackrabbit Homesteads of Joshua Tree
Stop 3 · Mile 310
Scottsdale AZ
Wright’s camp in the Sonoran, built from the ground up.
Desert Masonry: Frank Lloyd Wright's Camp in the Sonoran
Stop 4 · Mile 900
Marfa TX
One hundred boxes, one enormous horizon.
One Hundred Boxes in West Texas
Browse by section
03 storiesHousesPrivate worlds of glass, steel and shade.05 storiesIconsThe buildings that defined a desert style.02 storiesField GuideHow to read a roofline, a screen, a carport.04 storiesRoad TripsRoutes, stops and the light worth waiting for.01 storyDetailsThe small things that do the heavy lifting.