The Garcia Residence

The award-winning Garcia Residence sits on a north-facing slope in the foothills of the Tucson Mountains offering commanding views of the surrounding terrain and city lights, across the Valley to the Santa Catalina Mountains.

This home was created by Ibarra Rosano Design Architects to function as a series of structures that seemingly grow from the hill, the massing echoing the surrounding geology. Like a habitable desert outcropping, the strong vertical and horizontal forms open to provide shelter and refuge.

A compound of connected structures that include distinct terraces that gradually climb the hill, each of these spaces contains one of the three functions of the home: living, circulating, and sleeping.

This spectacular desert home offers a most livable design: guest bedrooms and bath are separated by an intimate private patio providing a quiet spot of rest and repose, plastered a deep magenta to add saturated color reminiscent of desert blossoms. The split master suite is separated by a glass corridor bringing the outside world into the view, and includes a flex space that is perfect as an office/work-out area.

The entry gallery serves as a circulation corridor as well as an extension of the living spaces below. Like a ship’s prow, this space becomes a welcoming invitation to the living, dining, and kitchen below and provides connective access to the bedrooms on the level sightly above.

The living room window is strikingly aligned toward the remarkable view of the Catalina Mountains and Tucson city lights. This tall volume becomes a lantern at night; a platform for watching dramatic summer monsoon storms roll across below.

A timeless palette of desert modern materials including sandblasted Integra block, raw steel, glass, birch millwork and finished concrete floors is intended to be as rugged as the land on which it sits, durable, yet in responsive harmony to the desert’s bold colors and textures.

The view is embraced by the outdoor terraces and patios, all oriented around the stunning pool and spa. The native landscape and mature arid trees provide shade and drama. A sandy play place is a delightful inclusion. Efficiency abounds with low water-use plantings, synthetic lawns and a high-output 6.7KW Solar Array. The 2.25 acre property is gated and includes a generous two car covered carport as well as a corral, stable and chicken coop.