London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 09, 2025

A Writer’s Prefab Retreat Sits Lightly Upon the Land in Joshua Tree

A Writer’s Prefab Retreat Sits Lightly Upon the Land in Joshua Tree

Thoughtfully inserted into a desert landscape, a low-impact, two-bedroom prefab home by Cover embraces the outdoors in minimalist style.

It was love at first sight for Los Angeles–based writer Leslie Longworth when a friend introduced her to a five-acre lot for sale in Pioneertown, a tiny historic community in Southern California. Surrounded by mountains and otherworldly views of Joshua Tree National Park-and with only a dirt road for access-the remote property was the perfect place for a writer’s retreat.



Located three miles down a dirt road, the remote property is surrounded by cactus, juniper, mesquite, scrub oak, Joshua trees, and dramatic piles of boulders.

Intent on preserving the pristine environment as much as possible, Leslie turned away from traditional site building and started researching prefabricated housing as a low-impact alternative. She came across the Los Angeles prefab startup Cover, and although the company had yet to complete their first build at the time, "everything clicked" from the moment she spoke to founder Alexis Rivas.

Spurred by her enthusiasm and vision, the startup made a special exception for Leslie-it usually focuses solely on accessory structures in Los Angeles-and designed and built a two-bedroom, two-bath house in the desert two-and-a-half hours away from the city.



The minimalist facade is composed of floor-to-ceiling windows and light gray fiber cement panels secured with a proprietary blind mounting system.

"Once Alexis agreed to come to the desert, I felt confident the land would captivate him…and it did," says Leslie. "The Mojave has a magnetism unlike anywhere I’ve ever been, and our land-which we feel wildly blessed to be the stewards of-has its own powerful vibration and magic. I think he said yes in the first five minutes of being there."

The happy partnership also gave Cover the opportunity to prove the capabilities of their fully integrated panelized building system in a standalone primary house-as well as their system’s performance in a harsh desert landscape.



To shield the residence from the harsh southern sun-and to provide privacy from the main road-the architects minimized openings along the south facade, aside from the entrance door.



Named "Sol to Soul," the modern two-bedroom house opens up along the north side to embrace the desert landscape.

As a provider of turnkey designs, Cover created a completely custom house and took care of the permitting, manufacturing, site work, and installation. The home was delivered complete with fixtures, finishes, Wolf Sub-Zero appliances, and a state-of-the-art radiant heating and cooling system.



As with all Cover projects, Leslie’s home features floor-to-ceiling windows, Wolf-Sub Zero appliances, integrated storage, and minimalist track lighting. The open-plan living areas are arranged axially toward views of the valley.

The project took about two years to complete, with the majority of the time spent preparing the foundation and utility work-which included connecting the home to the power grid with a new underground service line, drilling a new well for water, and installing a waste management system with a septic tank and leech fields. The manufacture of the panels, which were built in Cover’s factory, and on-site assembly took only six months to complete.



The light-filled living room on the east side of the house is furnished with an Opium day bed and Christian Liagre chairs for Holly Hunt.

"Designing around the endangered Joshua trees, boulders, and the view was extremely difficult," says Thomas Heyer, lead designer at Cover. "We were able to overcome it through a combination of more rigorous 3D mapping using drone imagery and handheld photos, and by leveraging our panelized building system to modify the design of the home to integrate with the property."



To match the modern architecture, Longworth furnished the dining area with a teak table by e15 and Voxel chairs by Karim Rashid for Vondom.



A peek inside the second bedroom.

Floor-to-ceiling, low-e windows with automatic integrated shades blur the line between indoors and out and "maximize the potential for awe" of the landscape, per Longworth’s request. In addition to the use of hydronic heating and cooling, the home further reduces its energy footprint with low-e windows, low-flow fixtures, and passive solar orientation that shields the interiors from the harsh desert sun. Longworth plans to add solar panels to her home in the future.



Thermory Wood lines the shower pan area in the smaller bathroom with an east-facing view.



A Wyndham Collection freestanding tub anchors the master bath. Low-flow fixtures are installed throughout.

"We are particularly happy with how the floor-to-ceiling windows frame the boulders, especially in the master bathroom," adds Heyer. "The goal of the project was always to use the proximity of the large rocks and elicit a sense of continuity by framing them in the various rooms."



Sol to Soul floor plan

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
×