Budget Breakdown: Three Friends Build a $940K Home Near Joshua Tree That Breaks With Boho Vibes
The all-black outpost in Landers, California, is now on the market at $1.4M, objets d’art and high desert views included.
The all-black outpost in Landers, California, is now on the market at $1.4M, objets d’art and high desert views included.
When artist and designer Brian Ware met fellow designers and fashion industry vets Louis Terline and Jeff Madalena two decades ago in New York City, they became fast friends. "We’ve been collaborating ever since, and in recent years, migrated west," Brian says. Like many who moved to the Joshua Tree area once the pandemic took hold, the trio sought solace in the Mojave Desert, wanting to build a hideaway together. "We started looking for land here," says Brian, who had already done a project of his own in the area, a house flip in Yucca Valley previously covered by Dwell. "After weeks of searching, we fell hard for a five-acre parcel at the base of Goat Mountain."
![[let’s use this caption to summarize the project.]](https://images.dwell.com/photos-6063391372700811264/7270229100872589312-medium/lets-use-this-caption-to-summarize-the-project.jpg)
Designers Brian Ware, Louis Terline, and Jeff Madalena met in New York City and moved to the Mojave Desert at the start of the pandemic to build a home together.
Photo by Elizabeth Carababas and Brandon Harman
The plot was once the site of a recreational cabin in Landers, an unincorporated community of about 2,000 people where the California sun is a near-constant companion. Brian says that this area of the Mojave isn’t as popular as nearby Yucca Valley or Joshua Tree, which have seen a spike in newcomers embracing the pioneer mindset that first brought people here a century ago. San Bernardino County, where these desert outposts are located, approved one new short-term rental permit a day on average in 2021 and early 2022 before temporarily pausing the boom that summer.
The main house and guest unit are connected by a concrete patio, which has several spaces to gather or take in desert views.
Photo by Elizabeth Carababas and Brandon Harman
A cedar-planked hot tub off the guest unit looks out onto the open desert.
Photo by Elizabeth Carababas and Brandon Harman
See the full story on Dwell.com: Budget Breakdown: Three Friends Build a $940K Home Near Joshua Tree That Breaks With Boho Vibes
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