Steven Ehrlich adds to Palm Spring's canon of landmark homes
Steven Ehrlich of Los Angeles-based EYRC Architects is behind this residential project – a modern concrete and weathered steel house, set in the striking, rugged landscape outside Palm Springs in the Californian desert

Richard Powers - Photography
As a focal point for the rise and rise of ‘desert modernism’ from the mid-century period onwards, Palm Springs has always benefited from an extraordinary cluster of landmark homes. Now architect Steven Ehrlich has added to the canon with a new house just outside the city for some old and dear friends.
Sitting within a rugged landscape of mountains and gulleys the two-storey, three-bedroom house is a considered response to the desert setting. Bands of concrete tie the lower level of the house, plus the pool and terrace alongside, to the land while the upper storey is coated in plates of red, rusting steel that echo the sun-baked surroundings.
‘The site is unique and majestic,’ says Ehrlich. ‘The house is close to civilization yet feels remote and private. Building on such a craggy site was complicated but our contractors performed a feat of engineering. The pool and casita were built first, because they are on the downside edge of the ravine.’
RELATED STORY
One of the priorities in the design of the house was to create a vivid indoor-outdoor relationship. Ehrlich created a multi-purpose ‘great room’ on the ground floor with a vast bank of glass that slides away to connect with the pool terrace. Another key ambition was to weave a thread of sustainability through the whole project, which features natural cross ventilation and cooling techniques, as well as photovoltaic panels up on the roof and minimal landscaping using only native desert plants.
For Ehrlich’s clients the house is a delight: ‘We love the amazing views and the feeling that the house is in the wilderness, even though it’s an easy walk into town,’ they say. ‘With the house being in the mountains we have no neighbours, so we also love the peace and quiet. There’s no space in the house that isn’t calming, beautiful and inspiring.’
INFORMATION
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
We bring you all the best bits from this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed
As car makers switch their allegiance to the sunny West Sussex countryside as a place to showcase their wares, a new generation of sports cars were sent running up that famous hill
-
Stay at Patina Osaka for a dose of ‘transformative luxury’ in western Japan
From nature-inspired interiors to sound-tracked cocktails and an unusually green setting, Patina Osaka is a contemporary urban escape that sets itself apart
-
12 photographers vie for Prix Pictet 2025, lenses firmly focused on sustainability
Prix Pictet is the world’s leading award for photography and sustainability. Here’s how the 2025 shortlist responded to this cycle’s theme, ‘Storm’
-
Florencia Rodriguez on the importance of curiosity, criticism and cultural freedom
Florencia Rodriguez, architect, writer and artistic director of this year’s Chicago Architecture Biennial, comments on the state of the States
-
A 432 Park Avenue apartment is an art-filled family home among the clouds
At 432 Park Avenue, inside and outside compete for starring roles; welcome to a skyscraping, art-filled apartment in Midtown Manhattan
-
Discover this sleek-but-warm sanctuary in the heart of the Wyoming wilds
This glorious wood-and-stone residence never misses a chance to show off the stirring landscape it calls home
-
Inside a Montana house, putting the American West's landscape at its heart
A holiday house in the Montana mountains, designed by Walker Warner Architects and Gachot Studios, scales new heights to create a fresh perspective on communing with the natural landscape
-
Peel back this Michigan lakeside house’s cool slate exterior to reveal a warm wooden home
In Detroit, Michigan, this lakeside house, a Y-shaped home by Disbrow Iannuzzi Architects, creates a soft balance between darkness and light through its minimalist materiality
-
Inside the new theatre at Jacob’s Pillow and its ‘magic box’, part of a pioneering complex designed for dance
Jacob’s Pillow welcomes the reborn Doris Duke Theatre by Mecanoo, a new space that has just opened in the beloved Berkshires cultural hub for the summer season
-
A Rancho Mirage home is in tune with its location and its architect-owners’ passions
Architect Steven Harris and his collaborator and husband, designer Lucien Rees Roberts, have built a home in Rancho Mirage, surrounded by some of America’s most iconic midcentury modern works; they invited us on a tour
-
Inside Frank Lloyd Wright’s Laurent House – a project built with accessibility at its heart
The dwelling, which you can visit in Illinois, is a classic example of Wright’s Usonian architecture, and was also built for a client with a disability long before accessibility was widely considered