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The landscaped backyard offers an idyllic setting for entertaining, complete with fenced-in seating areas, a grilling station, and a sparkling pool.

Extensive glazing and clerestory windows allow the open layout to be bathed in natural light.

Atop one of the bedrooms is a constellation rooftop deck that overlooks the California coast.

A hand-hewn teak sauna can be found down the hall from the home office on the upper level.

The spacious pergola offers plenty of seating for year-round al fresco dining. Mature oak, olive, and avocado trees dot the courtyard, making it all the more inviting—and shady.

When the Los Angeles–based firm Stayner Architects purchased Wave House in 2018 for $360,000 from the City of Palm Desert, little did they know what lay buried beneath. The house had remained vacant and in disrepair for years before father and son began the painstaking process to assess and upgrade the home’s infrastructure and efficiency.

The front entry opens into a large great room that spans one entire side of the home.

The star of each unit is the double-height living room, featuring a dramatic wall of windows framed by exposed masonry block walls. Shown here, Unit No 3. was restored several years ago by Ernesto Cragnolino of Alterstudio and Krista Whitson of Mel Lawrence Architects, who used the apartment as their personal residence.

A patio connects the two private wings and the central public area. About the firm's philosophy as embodied by this project, Cutler adds: "Nature takes on a will and spirit of its own in every project. We work to release that spirit."

Upstairs, the master bedroom offers access a private balcony overlooking the front courtyard. A wall of bookcases run the width of the room.

A massive oak tree is the focal point of the communal entry courtyard. The apartments were originally designed by Harwell Hamilton Harris for Thomas Cranfill, an English professor at The University of Texas at Austin courtyard.

The three-bedroom, two-bath home at 505 S. Roxbury Drive in Palm Springs has always been a crowd-pleaser. Designed by the pioneering architect William Krisel, the classic midcentury residence was built in 1958 by the Alexander Construction Company—a group responsible for the construction of over 2,000 homes in the Coachella Valley in the 1950s and ’60s. Krisel, acclaimed for his tasteful, affordable home designs, infused this particular property with many of his signature features.

Outside, a set of Bertoia chairs offer an appealing perch around a vintage glass-and-metal table.