Budget Breakdown: She Turned a Joshua Tree Shack Into a Homestead for the Long Haul With $456K

North Joshua Tree isn’t quite the same as the other areas surrounding the town proper. The Southern California sun is ever-present, of course, as is the sand. They share the moon that rises above the jagged mountains and the glitter of stars blanketing the sky. But this corner, as designer Veronica Koltuniak puts it, is a little more austere.

"There’s nary an iconic tree in sight," she says, referencing the area’s namesake plant. When Veronica and her husband came here in 2018, they acknowledged the remoteness of the location as a positive. "It’s the absence that makes this place special," adds Veronica. "The long view into the void is what I like most, surrounded by the mountain ranges of San Jacinto, Indian Cove, and San Gorgonio in the distance."

The newcomers weren’t interested in adding another boho-chic rental property to the area, nor fleeing when the desert showed its extreme conditions. Veronica intended to stick it out, and become a fixture in North Joshua Tree, where there’s a meditation center, music venue, and community center, and "you’ll meet all types of desert rat," she says. "Activist, artist, academic, and anarchist."

Veronica and her husband found an original 1954 jackrabbit homestead, a relic from an era when Uncle Sam sold parcels of this harsh government land to willing optimists. A previous owner had added an outdoor kitchen and bath using reclaimed lumber. It slept up to four people, and kept Veronica and her guests comfortable with the basics of a small solar panel, a single light bulb, water, and a septic tank. "We used the place as our deep desert getaway and would host large events and have everyone set up camp," Veronica remembers. "The outdoor kitchen had a propane stove and sink, and coolers were our only refrigeration. The outdoor bath had a proper toilet tied to septic and a propane shower open to the sky."