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A Delightful House for a Reader on Tribal Land

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A group of eight architecture students from the University of Colorado custom designed and built a house to meet a Navajo woman’s needs, on tribal lands in Utah.

The design meets the needs of a real bookworm, who when the students met her, had her books piled and dispersed throughout her old house.

An avid collector of books, she wanted to be able to showcase her collections in her new home – they were truly a part of who she was.

So instead of a bedroom, a delightful sleeping nook is tucked right into a huge bookcase that is the dominant feature of the house.

At the far end, the kitchen necessities are also incorporated right into the same shelving along the wall.

Because of its long and narrow shape, morning sun streams all the way across to the sleeping alcove to warm up the house.

The students, who were on tight budget of $25,000, devised economical solutions that helped reduce the cost of the house.

Because the sleeping nook is only the size of the actual bed, the ‘waste space’ of walking space around a bed in a full bedroom is eliminated.

The architecture students built the house in just 80 days, despite their little-to-no construction experience.

1The plan is economical in the extreme, while offering a guest “bedroom” up a ladder at one end of the house.

2. This windowless upstairs guest sleeping alcove is barely more than a loft shelf, as can be seen from the outside.

On the simple exterior, panels of recycled glass help to protect the walls from the harsh desert sun and open winds.

Set against the dark wood, these glass panels reflect the surroundings almost like mirrors.

As night falls, these “mirrors” in turn reflect back the last rays of the setting sun, giving back to the environment in a touching and lovely display.

This very successful design was built in conjunction with charity DesignBuildBLUFF, who regularly work with students to provide housing for some of the 2.4 million Native Americans that live in dilapidated or overcrowded housing on tribal land.