Working with a young architect, Rich Michal, we took the very contemporary rammed earth home that Rich designed built for his family and added a lavender-blue serpentine masonry wall around the front around a central fire pit and used a mix of upright native plants like saguaros and ocotillos to punctuate the design. In the back we created a deer grass oasis around a stock-tank style fountain and salvaged mesquite tree. The back yard is watered by graywater from the Michal’s outdoor shower.