We first came across this Joshua Tree artist’s retreat, by the up-and-coming Los Angeles interior design studio Petronio, on Instagram during lockdown last year, when we were most in need of inspiration. What is the visual equivalent of an earworm? We can’t get this one out of our heads, looking as it does like it was plopped down in the middle of California desert from the hills of Tuscany. Petronio is the studio of Mattia Feroni and Manuel Tortora, who were both born in raised in Italy, and though the two say they relied on signature midcentury and Brutalist Italian and American craftsman furniture, everything in combination in this space looks wholly original. The defining characteristic of the house, of course, is a hand-painted mural stretching across the dining room wall, created by LA artist Violet Hopkins, which recalls the art of Jean Cocteau. The many plinths and columns also recall Brancusi’s atelier, and the general palette takes its cues from the richness of the natural world seen through the windows. We hear that the home is slated to become an Airbnb, so keep an eye out for your next desert jaunt!

PHOTOS BY LANCE GERBER