Page 56 - Architectural Digest - USA (February 2020)

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he high desert of far West West Texas landscape so bewitching. “When you fall in love
Texas can be unforgiving with Marfa, you fall in love with all of it,” he insists. “Having
terrain. Just ask Douglas grown up in New York City, a nice Jewish boy, the idea of
Friedman, the globe-trotting living out on the land was incredibly appealing. I have to take
photographer renowned for his two flights and then drive three hours to get there, but the
copious talents and bonhomie, journey culminates at the end of a dirt road, with no visible
to say nothing of his signature neighbors and endless views of this incredibly beautiful,
mustache and tattoos. Nine soulful terrain,” Friedman muses.
years ago, Friedman fell under When it came to designing a suitable house for his
the siren spell of Marfa, the 10-acre parcel of heaven, the photographer adopted a sort of
diminutive Lone Star city and Occam’s-razor approach to architecture. “I was going for
art mecca (population roughly simplicity—something monastic but attractive, the easiest and
2,000) once described affectionately by John Waters as “The most economical thing I could build,” he recalls. “The problem
Jonestown of Minimalism” for its connection to artist Donald is that there’s nothing simple about building out here, espe-
Judd. “The desert really doesn’t want you there. You’re in a cially when you have to put in power and septic systems and
constant battle against wind, rain, dust, and, in the summer, drill a well. Also, simplicity in architecture, with a modicum
blistering heat,” Friedman says, reflecting on the challenges of grace, turns out to be quite difficult. My humble idea of SCULPTURE: BRETT DOUGLAS HUNTER FOR KINDER MODERN
of building his serene modernist compound. “For one thing, desert living just kept ballooning.”
I didn’t design the house with screens, because I wanted it to After considering, and rejecting, a wide range of prefabri-
feel as open as possible. But I quickly realized that you need cated options, Friedman settled on a modular system of glulam
screens if you don’t want a scorpion in your shoe, a rattlesnake timbers, steel connectors, and structural insulated panels (SIPs
under your bed, and a tarantula in the sink.” in construction parlance), all shipped to Marfa and assembled
Sounds charming. But Friedman is equally emphatic that on-site under the supervision of contractor Billy Marginot.
the creepy-crawly desert critters are part of what makes the A taut modernist box laid out on an exacting grid, the house