Marfa Ranch

Sandwiched between the inhospitable Chihuahuan Desert and the majestic Davis Mountains, the Marfa Ranch is situated on a low rise with dramatic views of pristine desert grassland in all directions. The house, which cuts a low profile, comprises eight structures organized around a central courtyard shaded by native mesquites. Built of two-foot-thick rammed earth walls, the home protects its inhabitants from the extremes of the region — heat, cold, and wind — while allowing them to connect with the landscape through lightweight breezeways and porches, a mirador perched above the main bedroom, and an outdoor walkway connecting to a pool and hot tub.

Borrowing from the area’s earliest structures, the rooms of the house are organized around a courtyard, a cool respite from the sun-drenched desert grasslands beyond the walls. The house embraces the expansive landscape with lightweight breezeways and porches made of recycled oil field pipe.

PROCESS

Rammed Earth

The exquisitely detailed and executed rammed earth walls artfully express the natural and the man-made in this ephemeral architectural composition. Paul Danna, FAIA

Texas Architect Design Awards Juror

The courtyard is shaded by the dappled light of native mesquite trees with a small fount of collected rainwater that completes the oasis-like quality of this key outdoor room. To keep the house cool during the hot summers and warm in the winters, the house is built of two-foot-thick walls of rammed earth.