Property of Mr. and Mrs. Louis C. Apton, Arizona | Architects: Schweikher and Elting

10/25/2025 09:59:00 PM

IN Arizona's Paradise Valley, Mr. and Mrs. Louis C. Upton have built a house for winter holidays as romantic as the desert it- self. It breaks sharply with conventional Southwest design which the Uptons and their architects, Schweikher and Elting, had tried in an earlier house. Where the first house had small windows to avoid the sun, this one has panoramic glass walls shaded by an overhanging roof. Instead of adobe, the walls of this house are concrete poured around native stone. Floors are also concrete, integrally colored a deep earth- brown with occasional flat desert rocks imbedded in the surface.

IN spirit too, the house is a match for its surroundings. Like the desert, it is compounded of brilliant sunshine, etched shadows, abrupt contrasts of color and texture. Six-inch, floor-to-ceiling glass slits have been slipped between the wall piers to form slender columns of light. For the garden pool. Mr. Upton has devised a sprinkling sys- tem to heighten its refreshing effect (a perforated copper tube running between the roof beams lets the water drip down in a drowsy patter).

THE impact of the house has surprised even the Uptons. Although no newcomers to Arizona or to contemporary architecture, they find that this house has imperceptibly changed their way of living. Mrs. Upton, who used to like conservative Eastern sport clothes, now prefers the casual lines and striking colors of the West. In spite of the remoteness of the house, their friends are so fond of it that the Uptons entertain frequently in one of their three outdoor rooms. The loggia and terrace which open off their bedrooms offer sun or shade for breakfast al fresco. Upstairs, the screened deck overlooks a magnificent panorama for 360° around. On one side there is the roof garden. the lawn, field and orchard in successive planes. On the other, the pool, cactus garden, alfalfa fields and always the stark, sun-baked mountains and desert.

Like a thoughtful hostess, the house imposes no rigid patterns of living. Sometimes Mrs. Upton serves meals in the dining corner of the living room, sometimes outdoors in the loggia or up on the roof deck. Snugly enclosed, the dining table is away from the win- dows, across from the broad fireplace. The sheltered loggia is perfect for breakfast or after-dinner coffee. It enjoys a double view: south to the garden. north across alfalfa fields to the orchard. On warm evenings. the Uptons like to sit on the deck where they can watch the sun set behind the mountains. Mr. Upton broils steaks in the fireplace (a dumbwaiter carries them up from the kitchen). If guests want to eat at odd hours, they have their own kitchenette.