Escamillas Residence
Classification: Residential
Type: New construction.
Location: Cottonwood, AZ.
Area: 1,470 sq.ft.
Year: 2023

The Escamillas Residence was conceived as a calm, grounded response to the Arizona desert. A home that feels open and connected to its surroundings while remaining sheltered from the region’s intense climate. From the beginning, the goal was to create a design that balances light, material, and proportion in a way that feels both rational and warm. The site, located in the quiet neighborhood of Verde Heights, offers generous eastern light and distant views to the northwest, which naturally guided the project’s orientation and spatial organization.

The layout is composed of two distinct wings joined by a central hallway spine. The public wing opens toward the northwest, where the kitchen and living areas extend seamlessly to an outdoor dining terrace. This connection between interior and exterior became one of the project’s key ideas, encouraging everyday living to flow naturally between shaded patios and interior spaces. The private wing, by contrast, is more introspective, containing the bedrooms and master suite arranged for privacy and filtered daylight.

Materiality played a central role in shaping the design’s character. We chose exposed concrete masonry for its permanence and thermal performance, pairing it with a softer palette of perforated brick and vertical wood screens. These elements aren’t purely aesthetic, they filter the harsh sun, create comfortable shaded zones, and cast dynamic patterns of light that change throughout the day. The combination of heavy and light materials creates a visual rhythm that feels modern but regionally appropriate.

The roofline extends in long, generous overhangs that emphasize horizontality and provide essential shading. This gesture defines the building’s profile and reinforces its relationship to the desert landscape. In the exteriors, this can be seen in the way shadows stretch across the façade, visually cooling the architecture while revealing the richness of texture and form. Each opening and screen was positioned intentionally, balancing views, ventilation, and solar control.

By aligning the main glazing toward the north and east, and shading the west facing façades, the house remains bright and comfortable. The masonry walls act as thermal mass, stabilizing temperature swings, while the wood screens add a tactile human scale to the exterior.

“The Escamillas Residence represents a synthesis of restraint and warmth, a home rooted in its climate and site, yet refined through proportion and material clarity. It’s a project that demonstrates how simple and well considered design moves with light, shade, and honest materials can come together to create a timeless, livable desert dwelling”.