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House Beautiful has revisited its 1979 Design House of the Year, a Las Vegas home designed as a garden oasis on a sandy desert site. The archive feature describes how architect William Turnbull Jr. and a team including designer Ristomatti Ratia used a central pool, shaded outdoor spaces and vivid textiles to shape the house.
House Beautiful has revisited its 1979 Design House of the Year, a home in Las Vegas, Nevada, designed around a central courtyard pool and sheltered outdoor spaces. The archive feature describes how architect William Turnbull Jr., interior designer Ristomatti Ratia and other collaborators used water, trellises, fabric and bold patterns to make a desert home feel like a private oasis.
The project was presented in the magazine’s May 1979 issue as a design intended to inspire builders. According to the archive feature, the house was built on a sandy, treeless site, with its rooms oriented toward a central court. A large palm and pool formed the focal point, visible from spaces including the master bedroom and an open-lattice lookout called the mirador.
The feature credits San Francisco-based architect Turnbull with adapting standard builder’s materials through details such as battens and lattices. The design collaboration also included House Beautiful editors, Ratia and designer Michael Haskins; the American Wood Council was a co-sponsor. Builders named in the original report were Connie Sommers, Duane Daum and Ernest Becker of Rancho Bel Air, Nevada.
Inside, the house combined Marimekko floral fabrics and grid patterns with high ceilings, exposed beams and visible air-conditioning returns. Ratia designed the custom furniture. The article highlights an open kitchen linking the rooms and courtyard, a children’s room with a multi-level platform bed, and a master suite opening toward a trellis-covered hot tub. Canvas canopies and tent-like fabric treatments appeared both indoors and outdoors.
A Desert Home Built Around Its Courtyard
The design’s central idea was to make the home’s enclosed court the organizing feature rather than treat the desert surroundings as scenery. Rooms faced the pool and palm, while masonry walls, trellises and fabric offered layers between the interior and the intense sun. The archive story presents this as a practical response to the site as well as a visual approach.
For readers interested in architecture and interiors, the project also records a particular way of making a house feel informal and spacious: pavilion-like ceilings, indoor-outdoor rooms and domestic spaces designed for gathering. Its use of widely available materials alongside custom details made the project relevant to the magazine’s stated aim of inspiring builders, though the source does not provide evidence about how widely its design was adopted.
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The 1979 Builder-Inspiration Project
The current feature is part of House Beautiful’s Archive Dive series, which revisits stories from the magazine’s archives. Editor in Chief Jo Saltz introduces the series as a monthly look at past projects and design ideas that continue to attract interest. The present article returns to the house first featured as the magazine’s 1979 Design House of the Year.
The original report framed the project as a response to the conditions of its Nevada site. It described the pool as a cooling presence and trellises and fabric as ways of filtering sunlight. The house also included several outdoor areas within its enclosing walls, including private decks, the mirador and a swimming grotto. The garage, made from the same redwood as the rest of the house, was positioned as a buffer between the street and the home.
“It’s part history lesson, part design deep-dive, and 100 percent a love letter to the iconic taste that’s defined HB for over a century.”
— House Beautiful editor in chief Jo Saltz
What the Archive Feature Leaves Open
The source describes the home’s original design and identifies its collaborators, materials and selected rooms, but does not establish the house’s current condition, ownership or accessibility. It also gives no account of later renovations or whether all original features remain. The archive material is a retrospective presentation, not a current inspection of the property.
The article explains the project’s aims and design decisions but does not report measured performance, construction costs or the home’s long-term effect on residential building practices. Those questions cannot be answered from the available source.
More Stories From the Archives
House Beautiful presents Archive Dive as a monthly series revisiting past magazine stories. Its introduction says future installments will look at projects and design moments from the publication’s archives. The source does not give a date or subject for the next installment, and it does not announce any new work on the Las Vegas house.
Key Questions
What was House Beautiful’s 1979 Design House of the Year?
It was a Las Vegas home featured in the magazine’s May 1979 issue. The design centered on a courtyard pool and palm, with rooms oriented toward the court.
Who worked on the house?
The archive identifies architect William Turnbull Jr., interior designer Ristomatti Ratia, designer Michael Haskins and House Beautiful editors as collaborators. It names Connie Sommers, Duane Daum and Ernest Becker of Rancho Bel Air, Nevada, as builders.
How did the design respond to the desert setting?
The house used a central pool, trellises, lattices and fabric treatments to shape its outdoor and indoor spaces. Its rooms faced an enclosed courtyard, while the report describes the layered design as a way to filter intense sunlight.
Can readers visit the house today?
The archive feature does not say whether the property is open to visitors or provide information about its current ownership or condition.
Source: rss
