When not staring in awe at the night sky, there’s likely one constant thought – Shade? Shade! Window blinds finally appeared in the Flickr and Amusing Planet links, but they’re not very original or attractive. Also, no shade for the adjacent patios? Great for more star gazing but killer otherwise. And why no adjacent interactive water feature? A plunge pool or jacuzzi would be extremely welcome… with sufficient shade, of course. Supposedly the shallow trough surrounding much of the house is a “moat,” though it’s dry now. When full, it might provide evaporative cooling, but it underscores the need for, you guessed it, shade, this time from glare.

The home’s interior has enormous potential to be a real showstopper. The beams radiating from the central fireplace along with the wood ceilings are gorgeous, though the current interiors don’t do them justice. Some stylish updates to the kitchen and bathrooms would be nice, as well as some means of providing auditory privacy for the bedrooms; the partial height walls have to be a “party killer,” if you get my meaning. There’s also serious a need for some patio-scaping. Currently they both resemble the surrounding desert way too much.

Still, my top priority for sprucing up the place would be doing something with the guesthouse. UGH! Hideous doesn’t begin to cover it. It might be better just to start over from scratch. Being in an environmental armpit is no excuse for bad architecture. Good thing the main event is so darn cool, er… nifty.