Mr. and Mrs. John G. Owen's Phoenix house, architect Blaine Drake

You don't need to own a lake or a hill in order to have a picture window in your living room. You can create your own vistas by planning the walls of your garden as carefully as you do those of your house. Mr. and Mrs. John G. Owen's Phoenix house began as an acre and a half of ordinary, flat suburban land; but within the property lines architect Blaine Drake has designed a private oasis. Garden walls and a hedge of sagebrush screen off the neighbors; plants, water and a wide roofspread temper the Arizona climate. Hollow blocks of gray pumice deaden sound, make the house quiet. They look and feel cool (and a light sanding removes soil). The brick-red color of concrete floors and paving absorbs glare and doesn't fade.

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source: House and Garden Magazine | august 1951