2025 | Las Vegas, NV

“Never put a building on top of a hill.  You always put it on the slope,

 so it seems to be emerging from the hill — like part of the hill.”

 -  Frank Lloyd Wright

At the far western edge of the city, atop the rocky foothills of the Spring Mountains, sits a 5-acre parcel with a steep 150 feet fall across the site. For all its natural beauty, it had remained vacant as owner after owner has attempted to perch their traditional suburban home on the very small flat section of the parcel on top of the hill.

 For us, this site is where land becomes sky. It is an embodiment of the experience of being on the edge: the edge of the hill, the edge of the city. 360-degree views overwhelm you as you survey the surrounding landscape, from untouched native terrain to Red Rock and the Las Vegas Strip.

 Locating the home within the site rather than on top of it was a primary focus. By moving the home’s footprint down the slope of the hill, the home maintains the curve of the hill as each floor moves up from the slope. Set back from the front edge, the home is lost in the monumentality of the mountains.  The home’s arc, while consistent with the radius of the mountain slope, becomes a study in geometric projections from the Las Vegas Strip. The client’s primary design objective was to maintain and maximize the expansive views of both the Strip and the Mountains beyond. Working from projections to center the strip within the main rooms of the home, the design looks down over the valley with a prescribed intention to focus on the strip. The texture of the mountain’s crevices and outcroppings creates a series of shadows within the depths of the mountain’s face. This play of light inspired the material selection. Wrapped in blackened steel, the upper volume fades away, a shadow seen within the hill, reducing the home’s visual appearance even further.