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House Beautiful’s Archive Dive revisits its 1979 Design House of the Year, a Las Vegas home planned around a central courtyard pool. The original project combined architect William Turnbull Jr.’s design with interiors by Ristomatti Ratia and Michael Haskins, using fabric, trellis and standard building materials to shape a sheltered desert retreat.
House Beautiful has revisited its 1979 Design House of the Year, a home in Las Vegas planned around a courtyard pool and designed as a shaded refuge from the desert climate. The archive feature returns to the project’s collaboration between architect William Turnbull Jr., interior designer Ristomatti Ratia, designer Michael Haskins and the magazine’s editors.
The house stood on a sandy, treeless site in Nevada. Its plan turned inward: a central court, with a palm and pool, served as the visual and physical link between rooms. House Beautiful’s original report said the pool and palm could be seen from every room, including the master bedroom and an open-sided viewing space called the mirador.
Turnbull used standard builder’s materials, customized with details including battens and lattices. The article described protective layers of fabric and trellis as ways to filter strong sunlight, while high ceilings, exposed beams and visible air-conditioning returns helped create a sense of openness. The home included private decks and other outdoor spaces within its enclosing masonry walls.
Ratia’s interiors brought together Marimekko floral prints and grid patterns, custom furniture, canvas canopies and a mix of indoor and outdoor rooms. The kitchen connected the house to its courtyard and other spaces. Bedrooms included a master suite and a children’s room with a multi-level platform bed; the master bath opened to a shower and tub, with a trellis-covered hot tub outdoors. The original project listed the American Wood Council as co-sponsor and named builders Connie Sommers, Duane Daum and Ernest Becker.
A Desert Home Built Around Its Court
The design’s central idea was to make the home’s interior courtyard the organizing feature, rather than treating the desert surroundings as a view to be faced from the perimeter. The pool, palm and filtered light linked rooms and offered an alternative to an exposed, treeless setting. That approach remains legible in the archived plans and descriptions, even though the feature does not report how the house performed over time.
The project also reflected House Beautiful’s stated aim of creating a design house that could inspire builders. Its use of ordinary construction materials, adapted through lattice, fabric and spatial planning, is part of that premise. The archive feature presents the home as a period design example, not as evidence that the same methods or materials would suit every desert site or current building code.
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The May 1979 Design Project
The original story appeared in House Beautiful’s May 1979 issue under the title “The Design House of the Year.” The magazine described the project as a collaboration involving its editors, Turnbull, Ratia and Haskins. Its stated purpose was to create a house that could offer ideas to builders, using a specific Las Vegas site and a design centered on shade, water and enclosed outdoor rooms.
The current article is part of House Beautiful’s Archive Dive series, introduced by editor in chief Jo Saltz as a recurring look at stories from the magazine’s archives. Saltz frames the series as a way to revisit past renovations, design choices and style moments and discuss why they remain relevant. The new feature is a retrospective on the 1979 project; the supplied material does not describe a new construction project or a change to the house.
““It’s part history lesson, part design deep-dive, and 100 percent a love letter to the iconic taste that’s defined HB for over a century.””
— Jo Saltz, House Beautiful editor in chief
What the Archive Does Not Establish
The feature provides a historical account and images of the project, but does not establish the house’s current condition, ownership or accessibility. It also does not give measurements for the pool, rooms or site, detailed construction costs, or evidence of the home’s energy performance. The original report describes design intentions, such as filtering sunlight and creating a breezy atmosphere; it does not provide measured results showing how effectively those goals were achieved.
The article also does not say whether the house remains intact, has been renovated, or can be visited. Its discussion of the project’s relevance today is editorial framing, not a claim that the 1979 design meets contemporary standards or applies directly to present-day construction.
Further Stories From the Archive
House Beautiful introduced Archive Dive as a monthly series revisiting a favorite story from its archives. The 1979 Design House feature is presented as one installment; the source material does not name the next story or provide a publication date. Readers can expect the series to draw on additional magazine material, although the specific subjects and schedule remain unannounced in the supplied report.
Key Questions
What was House Beautiful’s 1979 Design House of the Year?
It was a Las Vegas home designed around a central courtyard pool, with the rooms oriented toward the court. House Beautiful presented it as a design project intended to offer ideas to builders.
Who worked on the house?
The project involved architect William Turnbull Jr., interior designer Ristomatti Ratia, designer Michael Haskins and House Beautiful editors. The original report also names builders Connie Sommers, Duane Daum and Ernest Becker.
How did the design respond to the desert setting?
The plan centered on a pool and palm in an enclosed courtyard. House Beautiful described fabric, trellis and lattice as ways to filter sunlight, alongside high ceilings and open, pavilion-like spaces.
Is the house still standing or open to visitors?
The archive feature does not say whether the house remains intact or is open to visitors. Its current condition and accessibility are not established by the supplied report.
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