Published November 6, 2022
11 Stunning Homes Built Into Nature
From Albert Frey's house built into a mountain to John Lautner’s iconic Sheats-Goldstein residence in L.A., these structures take the term ‘back to nature’ to another level
- Photo: Archive Photos/Getty Images1/11
Mill Run, Pennsylvania
Frank Lloyd Wright is rightfully one of the Mid-Century Modernist movement’s most famous architects. His buildings, including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, the Unity Temple Oak Park, and his own winter home in Scottsdale, Arizona, are some of the most beloved from the era when clean lines and organic materials reigned. His Fallingwater house, however, is probably the most famous work he designed because it’s built over a natural waterfall on Bear Run.
- Photo: Dan Chavkin2/11
Palm Springs, California
Though there are mid-century era homes scattered throughout the world, the biggest collection is in Palm Springs. Case in point: the Frey II house. Named for the Palm Springs local who designed it, American architect Albert Frey, the home served as his long-time residence. He built it into the hillside at the west end of Tahquitz Canyon Way. As its name implies, Frey House II was the architect’s second home in Palm Springs, and he moved in when it was finished in 1964.
- Photo: Milad Eshtiyaghi Studio3/11
British Columbia, Canada
Iranian architect Milad Eshtiyaghi designed what she calls the Mountain House between four preexisting trees that added a bit of color to the rocky cliff on Quadra Island, a scenic stretch of land off the eastern coast of Vancouver. Though there are quite a few levels of the complex residence in the mountains, it’s highly organized: There are specific spaces for the parents and others for their son and his family, and the two are connected by way of a recreation area.
- Photo: Elizabeth Daniels4/11
Joshua Tree, California
Kendrick Bangs Kellogg took a few notes while working under Frank Lloyd Wright. Kellog’s Doolittle House in Joshua Tree took nearly two decades to complete, given the difficult terrain, for artist Bev Doolittle and her husband, Jay. Though it boasts a UFO-like vibe, the Doolittle House has been described as surprisingly warm and cozy—especially from the inside.
- Photo: Amey Kandalgaonkar5/11
Hegra, Saudi Arabia
“When I first saw the images of rock cut-tomb architecture of Madain Saleh in Saudi Arabia, I knew I had to use it as an inspiration in an architectural project,” designer Amey Kandalgaonkar says. That project became the House Inside a Rock in the desert of Saudi Arabia. Considering the visual complexity of the rocks at Madain Saleh, she kept things simple in terms of shape and composition. In fact, much of the house was designed with 3D software. was imperative to use simple planes and cubes in order to achieve a visual balance. “When inserting the house into this rock, I tried to keep its visual impact from eye-level at minimum as possible. The real extent of the intervention is revealed only when observed from a bird’s eye,” Kandalgaonkar adds.
- Photo: Milad Eshtiyaghi Studio6/11
Mendocino, California
With her myriad houses in the air, Iranian architect Milad Eshtiyaghi has proven that she is not afraid of heights. This home, hanging off the edge of a cliff in Mendocino, was specifically designed to give the residents a touch of fear and a lot of excitement. She admits that, even within a home like this, there’s still a sense of calm because it’s so connected to the surrounding nature. To ensure it won’t slide off the cliff, she used a cable system: The elevated cables bear the weight of the home while the lower ones withstand lateral and upward winds.
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Los Angeles, California
- Photo: LAAV Architects10/11
Calgary, Canada
LAAV Architects’s raw concrete, glass, and black steel Maralah is an isolation cabin and a tribute to both Frank Lloyd Wright and John Lautner. The architects created a delicate-looking structure that’s both submerged within a rocky cliff and cantilevered off its edge. Perhaps the best room in the 145-square-foot house is the bedroom, which has a direct view of the azure-hued Bow River beneath it. From the outside, Maralah is clearly a perfect square, but from certain angles, it looks as though it’s part of the cliff, with gentle ruggedness everywhere. And the slopped, almost covered roof blends seamlessly with the environment.
- Photo: Elizabeth Daniels11/11
Los Angeles, California
Built into a sandstone ledge of a hillside in L.A., John Lautner’s Sheats-Goldstein residence was designed between 1961 and 1963, the peak of the modernist design movement in the U.S. In typical Lautner fashion, the home is completely unexpected, designed from the inside out to prioritize the views of the valley beneath it. He didn’t want the house to disrupt the forest in which it stands, so he kept the exterior architecture—almost cave-like—and covered it in glass, allowing it to blend in with its surroundings.
This article originally appeared in Architectural Digest. To read the full article, click here.
