This courtyard provides separation from the main dwelling and the casitas. To deal with a strong setting sun, the west face of the courtyard was designed with a heavily roofed and protective breezeway cut two feet below the desert covered courtyard floor to shield from the west sun and buffer the casitas, which face to the east and north. The heavy mass and narrow slit of west exposure passively cools and tempers this home. To enhance passive cooling, a negative edge pool was placed down slope on the east side of the breezeway to allow northwest breezes to flow over the pool and cool the courtyard.

The home is built of solid masonry walls with a secondary insulated interior furring system, red concrete floors, and an abundance of natural exposed lumber, lightly sandblasted and naturally stained. A smooth exterior finish of pigmented and stained plasters gives the home a soft earthen character. Builder: Tamarron Homes, LLC.