The Ranch Mine has crafted a three-story rusted steel tower as part of a modern mountain home nestled within a Ponderosa pine forest in Flagstaff, Arizona. This home is tucked deep into the largest contiguous Ponderosa pine forest in the world and sits over a mile above sea level. It is situated in a small clearing scattered with volcanic rock, accessible only by a long, winding dirt road.

On the final stretch of road, a three-story-rusted steel tower emerges from the evergreen forest, signaling the refuge ahead. The Malapai Tower House is a new, full-time dwelling for a family, nestled harmoniously within the verdant embrace of the wilderness to bridge the gap between civilization and the wild, to unite the comforts of home with the untamed beauty of the natural world.

DESIGN DETAILS: ARCHITECTURE The Ranch Mine INTERIOR DESIGN The Ranch Mine BUILDER Builder’s Showcase Inc.

What We Love: This amazing house in Arizona is surrounded by a beautiful Ponderosa pine forest, providing the ultimate in seclusion. The dwelling offers peaceful views with an incredible industrial style. We especially love the kitchen, which brings life to the great room with its central presence. The bridge’s dual functionality and vertical design elements create a symphony of form and function. The limestone chimney is also an attractive element in this space.

Tell Us: What are your overall thoughts on the design of this ‘tower house’? Let us know in the Comments below!

Note: Have a look at a couple of other fabulous home tours that we have highlighted here on One Kindesign in the state of Arizona: A luxurious mountain retreat surrounded by pine trees in Northern Arizona and A fabulous modern getaway in Flagstaff inspired by Danish Hygge style.

When designing this project, the team wanted to complement the home’s natural surroundings. After sourcing stone gathered from the site, they pulled all the colors from the environment such as the standing seam roof like the dark pine bark, the rusted steel siding like the iron-rich dirt, and the wood siding like the exposed pine branches under the bark.

Above: When possible the architects love to use materials from the site. Here, they created the skirt for the structure entirely from malapai or stone collected onsite. It has the aesthetic benefit of anchoring the house into the site with functional benefits such as hardening the house from approaching embers to help protect against forest fires. “Malapai” is the American translation of “malpaís”, which means bad terrain in Spanish and typically refers to land characterized by eroded volcanic rock, such as the site for this home.

Above: The kitchen is an architectural marvel. Situated at the heart of the house, it anchors the double-volume great room. A bridge crosses above to access the second and third stories of the tower. The bridge was also designed to provide task lighting for the island and countertops. A double-height window and limestone chimney extend your eyes upward to the wood ceiling, adding warmth to the space along with the expansive, wood island countertop.

Above: The double-volume great room is situated at the heart of the tower. The rest of the house pivots around this room, which is anchored by a steel fireplace on one side and the kitchen on the other. Two-story windows and doors on both sides of the space offer panoramic views of the pine forest, abundant natural light, and in the summer, cooling breezes.

 

PHOTOGRAPHER Dan Ryan Studio