During 1948 Dixie’s parents bought a ten-acre parcel near the town of Tehachapi with plans to build their dream home on the knoll near its center. The year 1949 saw the ﬁrst structure in the form of a plywood barracks purchased in Long Beach from the U.S. Navy.

Eventually the property came into Dixie’s hands in 2010, at which point she and her husband Stan decided to build the home that never was… until now. At the right is the Coutant Balance.

It began in 2012 when Dixie read a Sunset magazine item describing its “Home of the Year” selection, which was a Breeze. Later that same year a Los Angeles Times item invited the public to visit the model home that had been built in the high desert village of Joshua Tree.

September 16, 2012 is when Dixie and Stan visited the desert showcase. They were intrigued enough to conduct further investigation.

To the right is a closer view showing the laundry room window, with the two sliding glass doors of the kitchen area in the shade. Here we see the larger of two patios, the other of which is on the opposite side of the house. Our intent is to match the patio color to the soil below.

The laundry room and the garage are “site-built,” and the main modules arrived aboard three 18-wheel semi-truck-trailers at the end of January, 2014.

  A ﬁfteen-minute video is
  available that shows the
  arrival of the modules:

Looking northeast from the master bedroom toward Tehachapi provides a view of Mother Nature’s abundance and generosity with ﬂora. Eleven gliding patio doors throughout the house supply myriad views of the valley.

Beneath the hardwood ﬂoor is a network of pipes that carries hot water to warm the house in wintry weather. No ducts are needed, with the result being that any air motion is natural rather than being forced by fans.

The modules are equipped with a steel skeleton that is bolted to a massive concrete foundation the likes of which is impressive in a residential setting. The site foreman commented that “This house will never move. If it does, it’ll be in one piece, and you will need a new address.”

The clerestory contains nine western-facing windows that admit sunlight into the great room and the radio room. An added eastern-facing pair of windows bring morning light into the master bedroom.

The 5,ooo-gallon water tank is required by Kern County, and serves as a reservoir for ﬁre suppression sprinklers as well as the domestic water supply. Our well pump keeps the tank ﬁlled. From there water ﬂows into the house via gravity. Once the water reaches the mechanical room found in the garage, a second pump boosts the pressure to ﬁfty pounds per square inch making it suitable for household needs, including the under-ﬂoor radiant heating system mentioned earlier.

Occasionally a visitor has asked if our new home is one or two stories, imagining the clerestory to be evidence of a second ﬂoor when viewed from the outside. Once inside the facts become obvious: it is the high ceiling that gives the illusion of an upstairs.

To the right is a view of the shack that was installed in 1949. The new house sits in this location and is oriented at the same angle. The shack was demolished at the end of 2013, and construction commenced almost immediately on the Balance, which took a year to complete.

Our new home is surrounded by an assortment of ﬂora and fauna. This little bluebird is probably tweeting, “A bit of privacy, please! Can’t you see I’m bathing?” An assortment of ravens, scrub jays, acorn woodpeckers, red-tail hawks, two bobcats, an assortment of migratory turkey buzzards and eleven deer are frequent visitors to the knoll.

As we intend to put in a pond or two, we anticipate the population growth will be signiﬁcant. Our 300-foot decomposed granite driveway records the passage of critters each day and night and on occasion presents a set of tracks we do not recognize. Raccoons are a distinct possibility among the usual numerous ground squirrels and a neighbor’s dog.

The great room at night is an impressive sight. Obviously these photos were taken before we moved in, and our wood-burning stove stands alone upon its pedestal. As a supplemental heat source, it will add its own charm to the room during the long winter nights when snow swirls… unafraid and unashamed.

This year-long adventure of having our house built has brought challenges large and small. Overcoming them took quantities of energy and perseverance by many, not the least of which the two of us contributed simply by being on site day after day. Thank goodness it is so incredibly beautiful here, a fact that lifted our spirits at every turn.

The magniﬁcent patio seen at the right is a ﬁne example. Running along three sides of the house, it was part of the original design. Imagine our surprise when one (of six) project managers announced our Trex Composite Decking would be installed the next day. We pointed out that concrete patios were part of the approved design plan. A conﬂagration arose at headquarters, and we were told to switch from Trex to concrete would cost us an additional $22,000 at which time we reiterated the fact that we had not authorized a change from concrete to Trex.

Work on the walkways and patios ceased. A week later word came down from on high: We would be getting our concrete patios and walks at no extra cost.

Altogether it has been an interesting adventure, and now that it is over we are delighted to be moved in and are beginning a new experience. If the gate is open and the ﬂag is up, we’re home. Come on in. The driveway entrance is at the west end of the parcel, about 300 feet beyond the house. Aerial views are available here.

The House on Nosy Knoll

by Dixie and Stan Coutant