TOYAH BATHHOUSE

A private bathhouse on a ranch near Balmorhea, where spring water rises out of the desert. The building is made of walls and water. Rammed earth, taken from the same ground, encloses a warm pool beneath a roof, a cold plunge within a narrow walled court, and a long open pool that holds the sky. A steam room sits at the center, and oak benches line the walls.

Rammed earth walls two feet thick on concrete footings, concrete pools and channels, a concrete roof over the warm pool with a single long skylight slot, and white oak benches and doors.

Water in the desert invites display. Here the pools are kept low and enclosed, discovered in sequence as you move through the walls, and the cottonwoods mark where the water lies.

Cool earth walls, clear water and a line of trees. An afternoon spent moving from warm water to cold, and out beneath the open sky.