London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Step Inside Palm Springs’ Latest Indoor/Outdoor Prefab Home

Step Inside Palm Springs’ Latest Indoor/Outdoor Prefab Home

Inspired by midcentury-modern architecture and an easy, breezy, open-air lifestyle, the Axiom Desert House embodies the beauty of prefab living to the core. Here, the founders of Turkel Design take us inside their new family abode.

To say 2019 has been an exciting year so far for Joel and Meelena Turkel would be an understatement. After having spent the last two years working on their own family residence, the couple-founders of Turkel Design-have not only completed the home, but it was also recently a Featured Home at Palm Springs Modernism Week. While paying homage to the area’s legacy of midcentury architecture, it is the property’s modern flair, energy efficiency, and prefabricated structure that makes it so unique.



In addition to the Turkel Design signature post-and-beam construction, the Axiom Desert House also features a spacious great room breezing out to a private courtyard. The floor-to-ceiling windows allow the home to effortlessly blend indoor/outdoor living, while infusing the spaces with an abundance of natural light.

"When considering the limitations of different prefab solutions, this project wouldn’t have been possible without panelized prefab," explains Joel. "When you panelize and produce componentry, you can virtually create any section and plan as you have a tremendous amount of flexibility," he notes, describing how this option allows for the ideal balance between precision, versatility, and predictability. "With this approach, the only limit is what the clients’ intentions are."



"There have been so many cool things we’ve done in this home that we’ve been wanting to do with our clients for a long time, but it’s difficult to sell an idea to someone when you haven’t done it before yourself," explains Joel. "Take for instance the living platform. If you describe the notion of a living platform to a client, they might think you’re a bit off your rocker, but when they see it and they see the kids playing on it and how it interacts between indoor and out, it instantly opens up new possibilities."

To take advantage of the area’s balmy climate, the couple have designed the 2,110-square-foot house to embrace the indoor/outdoor lifestyle that Palm Springs is so well known for, while enjoying the sprawling San Jacinto mountain range in the distance. One of the ways they’ve fostered this seamless connection is via a "living platform," which features expansive lift-and-slide doors by Marvin.



"One of the great things about the Marvin lift-and-slide doors is how they disappear into the pockets," notes Meelena. "It’s not a typical solution, and it offers exactly what we hoped to achieve with this home. We wanted to foster an intimate connection with the outdoors."

"The living platform, for me, is my favorite spot in the house and I think it’s probably going to be our family’s favorite spot, too, because it feels so special," states Meelena. "We’ve wanted to include a living platform in one of our projects for well over a decade, but it’s just been a bit of a hard sell for clients. Now, when you see it and you see how the doors just slide into the pockets and it opens up the entire frame of that daybed, I don’t think it’s going to be a hard sell anymore," she jokingly laughs. "I love that our girls have already taken to it, and it makes sense. You’re closer to the sun and fresh air; you’re more central on the site. It just feels right."



When it came time to select appliances that would seamlessly blend into their kitchen, Joel and Meelena relied heavily on Dacor for their elegant, high-tech product line. "What I love about the camera in the fridge is that it’s highly functional and not just a gimmick," notes Joel. "How many times have you gone to the store and purchased things because you forgot you had it? In my mind, this is a beautiful, simple feature that allows you to use less and waste less-while also wasting less time."

Another space the family looks forward to gathering together in is the kitchen. Strategically designed to have minimum visual clutter, the husband-and-wife team tapped Dacor for tasteful, high-tech appliances that would blend effortlessly into the room’s clean, contemporary aesthetic. "We chose Dacor because the design of the appliances is incredibly sophisticated-both in terms of their functionality and appearance. They are not only beautiful, but powerful and precise, with an intuitive interface," explains Meelena. "Also, most of the cabinetry in our kitchen is push-to-open, so it was wonderful to see that the Dacor refrigerator and freezer have that same feature. It made the integration of the appliances into the design seamless."



"This is a fairly smart home, so we can control the HVAC system, the lighting, and the security system all from our phones and keypads on the wall," Meelena explains. "We didn’t want to go overboard, but there was a certain amount of technology that was integrated into the overall design."

Sustainability was another factor that maintained high priority within the Axiom Desert House. Built from engineered wood, the home doesn’t use any dimensional lumber and the photovoltaic system will completely power it throughout the year.



Thanks to the efficiency of the bedroom fans by The Modern Fan Co., the Turkels can keep the Marvin lift-and-slide doors open throughout much of the year without having to rely on air conditioning. "We want to be able to keep the doors open as much as possible, yet sometimes the air movement in the desert isn’t sufficient to counteract the heat, so the fans are really a must," adds Meelena.

Additionally, sleek bedroom ceiling fans by The Modern Fan Co. will assist in cooling the residence from the desert heat, allowing the family to keep the doors and windows open while reducing the need for air conditioning. "The fans in the house are all about trying to eliminate the energy usage, and just like with the appliances, we really wanted them to be whisper-quiet so Modern Fan was a natural fit for us," notes Joel.



A peek of the Axiom Desert House from the exterior, with the beautiful San Jacinto mountain range in the distance.

Reflecting on all the hard work that has gone into making the Axiom Desert House a reality over the last two years, Meelena concludes: "Joel and I have worked together for a long time, and have worked on a lot of incredible houses for clients-it’s just so special that this one is going to be home."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×