If You Squint Hard Enough This Armadillo Almost Looks Like a House

You never know what you’ll find in Joshua Tree

February 26, 2018 9:00 am

The desert is famously an inhospitable climate, and yet life has found a way to survive and evolve.

Plants grow strange. Tight fronds funnel water just so, while acute spikes keep certain others away. Scales, leaf formations, boulders — all these characteristics serve as inspiration to the unmistakable armadillo-looking house by Kendrick Bangs Kellogg in Joshua Tree.

Desert House (6 images)

Some see a palm frond, others a skeleton — whatever you see, it’s definitely unlike anything else. The unusual home reportedly took over 10 years to build, and inside are literal boulders, concrete masses and glass as the primary materials. Relaxed light filters through the peculiar structure and  the curves make for strange spaces, some private and some exposed.

Meanwhile, the surrounding landscape is largely natural: rugged, punctuated with skeletal rusted steel sculptural fences.

If you can find anything more hospitable to desert-living, let us know.

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