CENIZO RETREAT

A small retreat in the hills outside Alpine, devoted to rest. A single rammed earth wall follows the slope, and four sleeping rooms lean against it, each with a walled garden, an outdoor shower and a deep window seat. At the end of the wall, a reading room holds leather chairs, oak shelving and a fire. The gardens are planted with cenizo, which blooms violet after rain.

A continuous rammed earth wall on a concrete footing carries the roof of every room. Timber frames, white oak doors, window frames and floors, and low weathered steel shed roofs with deep overhangs over each glass front.

Rooms for rest must be calm in every sense: dark at night, cool in the afternoon, private yet open to the view. The long wall carries most of that work, holding back the heat of the day and the world beyond it.

Four rooms, each with its own garden and shower, along a single wall. At night the only sound is the wind in the grass.