Desert Modern | Cushing Terrell Serene Las Vegas Home

The minimalist architecture and spare, luxe interior are intentional counterpoints to the surroundings, thanks to a creative team that included architect Jesse Vigil, AIA, of Montana-founded Cushing Terrell and interior designers Terri Eccles and Wendy Helms of THE in Southern California.

“The house is all about light and airiness,” says Vigil. “While the landscape is raw and rough. The clean lines and white light of the desert are meant to evoke a spa-like feeling within the home.”

The 23,000-square-foot Las Vegas residence was designed for a Montana couple with grown children, who have numerous business, sports and philanthropic interests. Wanting a sunny winter retreat where they could connect with family, friends and business associates—and host large events—they turned to the architect and interior designers, with whom they had worked on previous residences. 

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“The owners’ other homes were more traditional,” says Eccles. “This was their first contemporary home, and it goes with the landscape and the style of the surrounding community.”

Vigil walked the flat, five-acre site and noted views. 

“The knee-jerk reaction was to make the house face the lights of the Las Vegas Strip, which are visible to the east,” explains Vigil. “But then we would have turned our back on the desert.”

Instead, he flipped the house to open up to the arid landscape and provided views of the Las Vegas Strip from the expanse of a second-floor balcony.

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Working with exterior materials that include a silvery metal cladding, stone veneer and glass—plus interior backgrounds of pale porcelain flooring and white plastered walls—Cushing Terrell created a floor plan that includes a formal living room and dining area adjacent to the entry, with a family room, bar and kitchen to one side and the master suite to the other. A bridge spans the two-story volume of the living room and connects a theater and bar to a secondary master suite. 

A more intimately scaled guest house with three bedrooms, a kitchen and living area is connected to the main house with a sunny, art-filled hallway. To one side of the home’s entry, a sheltered auto court connects the two garages. In back, a casita with a pizza oven offers other resort-like amenities for the generously scaled pool patio, overlooking the desert. Telescoping glass walls connect the interior spaces to sheltered patios and garden spaces. 

Playing off the Las Vegas home’s pale, silvery tones, the interior designers suggested a neutral color scheme of gray, white and pale blue, warming up the setting with textured fabrics and luxe area rugs. 

“Much of the furniture in the house is custom,” explains Helms. “It was designed to match the large scale of the interiors.” 

She points out pieces like the 11-foot-long sofa in the living room—where three-dimensional tile wall cladding opens up to reveal a TV above the fireplace—and, in the dining room, a convivial table that can seat 12, warmed by the glow of a backlit onyx wall. 

In the family room, a custom pool table is a family favorite, while the adjacent two-island kitchen features a blue-black quartzite backsplash, in which laser-cut reveals are backlit by night. Outdoors, multiple seating and lounging areas provide spots for the owners, family and other guests to enjoy the dry Las Vegas climate and dips in the knife-edge pool.

Throughout the interior, Helms and Eccles added sparkle and spark with custom light fixtures and vivid, large-scale contemporary art, sourced from the Hohmann Art Gallery in Palm Desert. 

“The house fills the expanse of the landscape,” notes Vigil. “There is a sense of grandeur that meets the need of large-scale entertaining.” On the other hand, says Eccles, “This is not a ‘don’t touch,’ chrome-and-lucite kind of home. It’s very livable and relaxing.”

And, with a choice of desert and urban views, it’s an abode that invites the owners to stay a spell.