Stone House

Stone House occupies a site of extraordinary natural beauty on the outskirts of Petra, where rose-red cliffs and ancient carved monuments create one of the world's most evocative landscapes. The design challenge was to create a contemporary residence that would honor this UNESCO World Heritage context without pastiche or false historicism. Our response was to work with the landscape rather than upon it, allowing the building to emerge from the terrain as if it had always been there, its walls continuous with the geological formations that surround it.

The material strategy is one of radical specificity. All stone was sourced from a quarry within sight of the site, ensuring color and texture continuity with the natural surroundings. The walls employ traditional dry-stack construction techniques updated with hidden reinforcement, creating surfaces that read as geological rather than architectural. Interior spaces are carved from this mass, with load-bearing walls giving way to dramatic voids that frame specific views of the canyon landscape. Earth-toned plaster, locally woven textiles, and furniture crafted from regional olive wood complete an interior palette that feels indigenous to this remarkable place.

Living at Stone House means existing in dialogue with deep time. The sunrise illuminates the master bedroom's eastern window, casting warm light across walls that share their material DNA with monuments carved two millennia ago. During the day, the thick stone walls maintain cool interior temperatures without mechanical assistance. At night, the absolute darkness of the desert sky reveals star patterns unchanged since Nabataean traders passed through these canyons. The residence offers its inhabitants not merely shelter but connection to a continuum of human habitation stretching back thousands of years.