A Dramatic Desert Interior Inspired by Art, Stone and the Colors of the Southwest

Focusing on the interior, Bethke suggested a cleaner look with dramatic gestures that complemented the home’s tall ceilings and vast views. Along with the geodes’ rich hues, the designer drew inspiration from the colors found in the homeowners’ artwork. “They love Native American art and artifacts,” she says, “and they love everything ‘desert.’ We kept that in mind when we crafted each room, which we intentionally designed to have different experiences.”

Taking much of the interior down to the studs, Bethke ensured that the geode-lined entry hall served as the dramatic preamble to the great room, where dark, heavy trusses were replaced with a white coved ceiling, its lines and angles subtly skewed to draw the eye to the outdoor views. Bethke set up the room with two symmetrical seating areas—one facing the fireplace and the other facing a TV wall. Each side is anchored by 12-foot-plus custom sofas, scaled to match the room’s volume, each featuring custom niches for sculpture and art objects. Off to one side, the couple repurposed what would traditionally serve as the dining area into a game room, uplifted with Bethke’s millwork design, which includes zigzag-shelved wine storage. “It looks just as good empty as it does filled with bottles,” she notes. As a nod to the Southwest, the designer encircled the table with chairs covered in a serape-inspired fabric.

The renovated kitchen is perhaps the most breathtaking, anchored by a custom hood suspended over the island’s cooktop. Bethke had the eight-foot-long hood crafted of blackened steel and polished nickel, dangling the 800-pound unit from the ceiling by a series of metal straps and illuminating it with color-changing LED lighting. “It’s a piece of art that’s both sculptural and functional,” Bethke says. The kitchen’s vertical-grained custom oak cabinetry was inset with black wood patterns, creating a sense of motion, and the upper reaches were left open and illuminated to display art and collectibles.

In the primary suite, Bethke reduced the bedroom’s size to increase the bathroom’s square footage and closet space, and she created a custom headboard that frames the bed, as well as designed his-and-hers vanities for the bathroom.

Throughout the home, Bethke’s material choices coalesced to give the interior its punch. “The owners love different kinds of stones.” She notes, “We really played them up.” In the great room, the TV rests on an onyx slab, surrounded by a wall  in textured, hand-scraped wood. The kitchen’s waterfall island is clad in underlit quartz that highlights its striations. In the primary bathroom, the quartzite walls and countertops are underlit, showing off their painterly patterns.

Other materials add to the visual feast—copper tile backing in the great room’s display niches, textured tile in a bathroom that resembles waves, and a wallpaper strewn with glittering geckos that adorns the game room’s ceiling. In the guest bathroom, the wallpaper features a pattern of blue eyes set against a starry background. “The house is meant to be fun, to be a celebration,” Bethke says.

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Outdoors, Bethke chose to honor the original architecture and hardscape while infusing a bit of fun and celebration with her patio furnishings. “I like designs by Kenneth Cobonpue,” she remarks. “They’re whimsical and practical.” She suggested his knitting-inspired lounge chairs, a coffee table with stitching and a dangling net chair for the pool patio.

“This house is the owners’ dream home in the desert,” Bethke says. “That entry hall is what I call the ‘spiritual portal’ to the rest of the interior, which is now all about good energy.”