Desert Modern Indoor-Outdoor Living With a Twist
It’s difficult to imagine two more disparate places to live than the tree-lined streets and elegant interiors of Paris and Tucson’s raw, mountainous landscape, sprinkled with desert homes. But when a French interior designer, whose husband’s job caused the couple to relocate to Tucson, found a midcentury house with good bones and sweeping views, she recognized the potential to create a home in their new environment.
Fast-forward past the remodel, which included a full landscape renovation and interior redesign down to the walls and beams, and the property has the best of both worlds. Contemporary low-water plantings blend seamlessly with the surrounding desert, while details such as hanging outdoor daybeds and colorful textiles inside and out make the home feel fresh, free-spirited and inviting. Take a look around the home and garden that helped this couple fall in love with easy indoor-outdoor living in the Sonoran desert.
Fast-forward past the remodel, which included a full landscape renovation and interior redesign down to the walls and beams, and the property has the best of both worlds. Contemporary low-water plantings blend seamlessly with the surrounding desert, while details such as hanging outdoor daybeds and colorful textiles inside and out make the home feel fresh, free-spirited and inviting. Take a look around the home and garden that helped this couple fall in love with easy indoor-outdoor living in the Sonoran desert.
Photography by Gerardine and Jude Vargas
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A French couple from Paris; she’s an interior designer and he works in irrigation
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Size: 2,200 square feet (204 square meters); three bedrooms, two bathrooms
Design team: Landscape design: Elizabeth Przygoda-Montgomery of Boxhill Design; interior design: homeowner
Although the home had great original details, such as high ceilings and stonework, the outside needed a lot of help. The front yard consisted of nothing but gravel and concrete, and while the backyard had a pool, the landscape felt barren and uninviting.
The couple brought in landscape designer Elizabeth Przygoda-Montgomery to help them reimagine the outdoor space. “What is now the front courtyard was once was a driveway and parking lot,” the designer says. “Guests would literally pull up to the front door, and you looked out from the kitchen window to a parking lot.” Przygoda-Montgomery proposed enclosing the entrance with a low wall to change the feeling of arrival at the home.
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A French couple from Paris; she’s an interior designer and he works in irrigation
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Size: 2,200 square feet (204 square meters); three bedrooms, two bathrooms
Design team: Landscape design: Elizabeth Przygoda-Montgomery of Boxhill Design; interior design: homeowner
Although the home had great original details, such as high ceilings and stonework, the outside needed a lot of help. The front yard consisted of nothing but gravel and concrete, and while the backyard had a pool, the landscape felt barren and uninviting.
The couple brought in landscape designer Elizabeth Przygoda-Montgomery to help them reimagine the outdoor space. “What is now the front courtyard was once was a driveway and parking lot,” the designer says. “Guests would literally pull up to the front door, and you looked out from the kitchen window to a parking lot.” Przygoda-Montgomery proposed enclosing the entrance with a low wall to change the feeling of arrival at the home.
New Front Yard
Now, guests are greeted with a welcoming outdoor room, and the couple enjoy more privacy inside. Next to the front door, a teardrop-shaped Papasan chair piled with colorful pillows provides a spot to pause before entering the home. Low-water plantings include desert-friendly species such as Aloe ferox, ‘Blue Elf’ aloe, Artemisia spp., slipper plants (Pedilanthus macrocarpus) and Yucca thompsoniana.
Papasan chair: Wayfair; wood stool: Shop Boxhill; pillows: Amazon; see more midcentury-style outdoor furniture
Now, guests are greeted with a welcoming outdoor room, and the couple enjoy more privacy inside. Next to the front door, a teardrop-shaped Papasan chair piled with colorful pillows provides a spot to pause before entering the home. Low-water plantings include desert-friendly species such as Aloe ferox, ‘Blue Elf’ aloe, Artemisia spp., slipper plants (Pedilanthus macrocarpus) and Yucca thompsoniana.
Papasan chair: Wayfair; wood stool: Shop Boxhill; pillows: Amazon; see more midcentury-style outdoor furniture
“The advantage of creating an outdoor room is that you extend the square footage of your home,” Przygoda-Montgomery says. In the front courtyard she created a second destination for relaxing with a U-shaped outdoor sofa around a steel fire pit, which she also designed. A subtle recirculating water feature built into the wall fills the courtyard with the soothing sound of running water. On mild evenings the couple often enjoy Champagne in the front courtyard as they watch the sun wash the mountains in red and orange. On full-moon nights they’ll create a bonfire and look for constellations.
Vesta fire pit: Shop Boxhill; pillows: CB2; outdoor lamp: Fatboy; carved wood stools: African Art Village at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show; see similar outdoor sofas
Vesta fire pit: Shop Boxhill; pillows: CB2; outdoor lamp: Fatboy; carved wood stools: African Art Village at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show; see similar outdoor sofas
New Backyard
Continuing with the theme of the front courtyard, Przygoda-Montgomery enhanced what was just a pool and pavers by creating multiple destinations to encourage indoor-outdoor living. Here, chaise lounges offer a place to take in the sun, half-submerged pool loungers create an ideal spot for cooling off in the newly added shallow lagoon, and an outdoor dining table offers a place to host outdoor meals. Additionally, the homeowners replaced the pool’s tile and added a hot tub.
Chaise lounges: CB2; submerged pool lounges: Shop Boxhill
Continuing with the theme of the front courtyard, Przygoda-Montgomery enhanced what was just a pool and pavers by creating multiple destinations to encourage indoor-outdoor living. Here, chaise lounges offer a place to take in the sun, half-submerged pool loungers create an ideal spot for cooling off in the newly added shallow lagoon, and an outdoor dining table offers a place to host outdoor meals. Additionally, the homeowners replaced the pool’s tile and added a hot tub.
Chaise lounges: CB2; submerged pool lounges: Shop Boxhill
Under the shade of the porch, a pair of swinging daybeds topped with kilim pillows creates a playful, laid-back mood and has become the homeowners’ go-to spot for relaxing.
On the weekends, the couple enjoy taking an early morning swim, followed by sipping tea and coffee on the daybeds while admiring the view. Colorful butterfly-style chairs provide additional seating for guests.
Hanging daybeds: Shop Boxhill; butterfly chairs: Wayfair; stools: World Market; Turkish pillows: eBay; see similar kilim pillows
On the weekends, the couple enjoy taking an early morning swim, followed by sipping tea and coffee on the daybeds while admiring the view. Colorful butterfly-style chairs provide additional seating for guests.
Hanging daybeds: Shop Boxhill; butterfly chairs: Wayfair; stools: World Market; Turkish pillows: eBay; see similar kilim pillows
A wider shot of the backyard shows the renovated pool and the desert mountains beyond the limits of the property. Przygoda-Montgomery chose the plantings and hardscape to reflect the natural colors of the desert landscape, using warm caramel gravel, gray-green cactus and paint the color of sun-bleached wood. Plantings were kept desert-appropriate, low-water and low-maintenance, as per the homeowners’ wishes.
New Interiors
Inside, the homeowners preserved the 1967 home’s original high ceilings and stone walls. As an interior designer, the wife knew that the chunky caramel-colored stone would add warmth and texture to the space and root the home in a midcentury aesthetic. She further drew attention to the stonework by painting adjacent walls a complementary charcoal gray. To bring more light to the interior, she added large new windows to look out on the backyard. The floors throughout the home are polished concrete.
Inside, the homeowners preserved the 1967 home’s original high ceilings and stone walls. As an interior designer, the wife knew that the chunky caramel-colored stone would add warmth and texture to the space and root the home in a midcentury aesthetic. She further drew attention to the stonework by painting adjacent walls a complementary charcoal gray. To bring more light to the interior, she added large new windows to look out on the backyard. The floors throughout the home are polished concrete.
The laid-back, funky style of the porch continues in the living room furnishings. The wife wanted an easy, natural flow between interior and exterior spaces and used many of the same kilim throw pillows and textiles inside and out.
She picked up the unusual horned chair at a Tucson furniture store before the couple had purchased the house, knowing she’d make room for it wherever they ended up. Now, it sits alongside a new white acrylic side table with funky hoof details.
Turkish pillows: eBay; horn chair: Tom’s Fine Furniture and Collectables, Tucson
She picked up the unusual horned chair at a Tucson furniture store before the couple had purchased the house, knowing she’d make room for it wherever they ended up. Now, it sits alongside a new white acrylic side table with funky hoof details.
Turkish pillows: eBay; horn chair: Tom’s Fine Furniture and Collectables, Tucson
Many of the paintings in the home are by the homeowners. The wife painted this banded artwork that hangs at the end of a glass-framed walkway. The bright desert sunset colors pick up the tones and patterns of the kilim cushions in the living room, and the painting acts as a focal point to the transitional space.
Wall paint: Gravel Gray, Benjamin Moore
Wall paint: Gravel Gray, Benjamin Moore
What was once a galley kitchen, with floor-to-ceiling cabinets, now features a more contemporary layout with plenty of open space. The renovation included adding a center island with bar seating, a farmhouse-style sink and a much larger window. A collection of Southwest-themed photographic prints adorns the walls, providing more interest to the space.
Black-and-white prints: Art.com
Black-and-white prints: Art.com
The colors in the master bedroom are kept softer and more earthy, save for a few vibrant accents. A playful, colorful painting above the bed stands out against the soft-color palette of gray, white and golden brown. Cozy faux-fur throws and an Argentinian cowhide rug that the wife found on eBay pick up the rich, natural colors of the stone wall.
Painting: Art.com; rug: eBay
Painting: Art.com; rug: eBay
In one corner of the bedroom, a wooden carving of Guan Yin, a Buddhist deity, hangs against the wall above a colorful chevron-patterned cabinet. Dusty-purple velvet curtains and a matching poof stool soften the room’s hard angles.
Chevron cabinet: Deny Designs; curtains: Overstock; see more velvet curtains
Chevron cabinet: Deny Designs; curtains: Overstock; see more velvet curtains
The bathroom is modern and minimalist with double sinks and mirrors with sleek, built-in lighting. The pebbled floor of the shower echoes the texture of the stone walls in other areas of the home on a smaller scale.
Views of the garden were designed to be enjoyed from both inside and outside the home. Here, a sculptural prickly pear cactus aligned with a window in the master bath provides a backdrop for art inside the home.
Outside the master bedroom, sliding glass doors open to a small, private patio with casual furniture. The stone wall backing the terrace continues inside to the bedroom, linking the two spaces physically as well as visually.
All in all, the French couple have fully embraced their move to the Arizona desert and the indoor-outdoor lifestyle of their home and garden. Their long-term plans are to retire in Tucson, rather than Paris, balancing their time with trips back to France in the summer.
All in all, the French couple have fully embraced their move to the Arizona desert and the indoor-outdoor lifestyle of their home and garden. Their long-term plans are to retire in Tucson, rather than Paris, balancing their time with trips back to France in the summer.