- Project: Fort 137 Residence
- Architect: Daniel Joseph Chenin
- Location: United States, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Year: 2023
- Area: 836 m2
- Photography: Stetson Ybarra, Daniel Joseph Chenin, Stephen Morgan
A Fortress of Modern Desert Living
On the western edge of the Las Vegas Valley, where cityscape melts into desert rock, Fort 137 Residence emerges as a bold reinterpretation of the desert home. Designed by Daniel Joseph Chenin, the house channels the historic “fort” typology—not as a relic, but as a lens through which modern living, landscape and climate converge. The result: a home that is at once protective and expansive, rugged in form, refined in detail.
Concept & Response to Place
The brief asked for a home that would anchor a family deeply in the desert environment — to embrace the land, views and active lifestyle of its occupants. The architect answered with a series of volumes: stone-clad walls, steel frames, vast sliding glass panels, and a sculptural entry rotunda that marks the transition from urban edge into wild terrain.
At the heart of the design is the principle of emergence: the home does not dominate, it rises from the site, employing heavy materials, layered vantage points, and intimate courtyards. Each mass is oriented to frame landscape or light, each threshold a moment of transition between shelter and freedom.
Spatial Organization & Experience
The house unfolds through a carefully orchestrated sequence. The rotunda entry, with tall conical form, cues movement, offers pause, and mediates light and shadow. From there you pass into a shaded internal courtyard — the architectural hinge between desert exterior and conditioned interior.
Living, dining and social spaces are arranged in connected volumes, each with panoramic north-south glazing to capture views, cross ventilation and changing light. Private quarters flank the communal core, balancing openness with retreat.
Materials, scaling and voids all work in tandem to create rhythm: stone walls open to glass, steel frames push outward, overhangs moderate sun. In the desert context, this is not mere aesthetic—it is environmental strategy and spatial emotion in one.
Materials, Climate & Sustainability
Fort 137 is constructed with a strong material narrative: local stone, weathering steel, reconstituted wood veneer, travertine floors and oversized glass panels. These choices are not decorative but functional—they shape how the building ages, how it interacts with sun, wind and dust.
The glazing spans 38 ft by 13 ft in key elevations, merging indoor and outdoor while deep eaves and louvers protect from glare and heat. Passive cooling, photovoltaic infrastructure, radiant heating and site-sourced rock all combine to reduce environmental footprint. The result is architecture that looks monumental but lives gently.
Why It Matters
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It re-imagines the desert home typology with contemporary rigour and crafting.
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It shows how luxury can be rooted in climate, site and materials rather than scale alone.
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It demonstrates integration of architecture, interior and landscape as coherent whole.
For architects, clients and enthusiasts, Fort 137 stands as a benchmark in desert residential design—where habitation becomes exploration of land, light and life.
Fort 137 Residence by Daniel Joseph Chenin, Ltd. is more than a house in the desert—it’s a dialogue between stone, steel, glass, and earth; between shelter and exposure; between history and innovation. It reminds us that architecture can belong to place without losing ambition, that the home can be both fortress and lens, and that design can celebrate—rather than tame—nature.
