Verbena

Nestled in the historic Ruth Hardy Park neighborhood of Palm Springs, the Verbena residence is a sophisticated study in mass and void, designed to "live large" within a compact footprint. The architecture is distilled into a series of programmatic pavilions sheltered beneath a singular, expansive hip roof, where the pavilions act as intimate rooms & spaces within a larger volume. By utilizing dropped ceilings to define these zones, the design allows the primary social spaces, such as the gracious living room, to open fully to the underside of the roof, creating a dramatic sense of expansion and release. This playful geometric form is further articulated by a series of chimneys that puncture the roofline, a sculptural gesture that recalls the sculptural vernacular of Long Island Modernism.

The interior experience is defined by long, intentional view corridors that cut through the home, providing a "light at the end of the tunnel" effect that offers visual relief from the nestled volumes. This sense of discovery extends to the landscape, where a detached studio space is delicately stitched to the main house via a shaded breezeway. Positioned to the northeast, the studio is the sole element to break from the home’s grid, sitting slightly off-axis to create an architectural backdrop for a feature tree that pulls the eye and visitors in from the street.