Residential Site Planning Landscape
The expansive views, remarkable stand of native saguaros, and understated infinity-edge pool earned the project Modern Luxury Interiors Scottsdale’s 2023 Design 9 Award for Best Outdoor Living Space.
Lost Star occupies a challenging hillside ridge lot in Desert Mountain. Located at the end of a cul-de-sac, the site creates a pinched, narrow approach followed by a long descent to where the house ultimately wanted to be. The main living wing rests along the ridge, while the primary suite occupies the opposite side of a shallow natural depression.
This is the very definition of a “view lot.” Every major decision—from the placement of the house to the organization of its indoor and outdoor spaces—was shaped by the extraordinary down-valley view and the mature stand of saguaros beyond it.
The challenge was not simply to capture that view, but to create dramatic architecture and outdoor spaces that would support it without competing with it. On a site with this much natural presence, the landscape needed to guide the experience, frame important moments and then quietly step aside. The view was always the main event.
The long driveway was cut into the ridge, turning a difficult approach into a carefully focused procession. Specimen cacti, including Mexican fence posts, create rhythm, texture and interest along the descent while offering a visual nod to the dense stand of native saguaros behind the house.
At the foyer, the experience opens dramatically and the view takes over. The infinity-edge pool was positioned to turn up the volume on what was already the obvious star of the property. Understated by design, it extends the eye toward the horizon and invites visitors to experience the desert with a sense of reverence.
Several mature saguaros displaced by construction were carefully relocated and clustered among the existing stand, creating what feels like a natural forest of these majestic cacti. The effect is particularly dramatic at sunset, when the saguaros become silhouettes against the changing sky.
Throughout the patios, a series of sitting areas and vantage points allows the homeowners to experience the landscape in different ways—each offering its own relationship to the desert, the architecture and the distant view.
