AHEAD OF THE CURVE

With a name like Jersey Devil, it’s unlikely that the architecture firm could produce a house that’s shy and retiring. It was, in fact, the group’s first project, the Snail House in New Jersey, that prompted passers-by to pronounce, “It looks like the Jersey Devil’s been here,” a reference to local folklore that held that a devil emerged once every 10 years to wreak havoc on people’s lives. The name was embraced by the three Princeton graduates, Steve Badanes, Jim Adamson and John Ringel, whose modus operandi is as unique as their houses. Badanes likes to use words like “renegade” and “outlaw” to describe their design attitude.

Homeowners George and Adele Norton, who previously commissioned two houses from the architects (the first is near San Francisco, the second on the Sea of Cortez in Baja California), prefer to call their new Palm Springs abode “art as opposed to lodging.”

However it’s viewed, El Mirador, the Nortons’ latest residence--in a part of Palm Springs that has long drawn artists and writers--is a radical break from the elaborate, Mediterranean-style estates that have mushroomed in the desert in recent years. The house heralds a return to desert-smart construction: Instead of turning its back on its environment, it has come to terms, and made peace, with it.

“We wanted a low-maintenance, forward-looking house that says 2000, addresses our environmental concerns and will adapt to home care in the long term,” says George Norton, a self-described “lawyer’s lawyer” who develops computer software for family lawyers and runs seminars on family law. The semi-retired couple have collaborated with Jersey Devil since the late 1970s. “It’s a very symbiotic relationship,” Norton says. “We tell them our requirements as far as living space, and then we say, ‘Do something special.’ ”

The architecture firm responded this time with a barn-like structure spanned by a curved roof that’s divided into two equal parts. On one side is the main 1,800-square-foot residence for the couple that includes an open-plan kitchen/dining /living area, a computer-savvy office, high-tech media room and a master bedroom. On the other side is the garage and two guest rooms. Down the middle, bisecting the two halves, lies a courtyard shaded by a steel-framed ramada of slats of aluminum tubing that holds a solar-heated lap pool (one of George’s requirements), a waterfall and palm trees.

Perched on a rim road 40 feet above a desert wash and set against a rocky hillside, the Norton house faces directly west toward the San Jacinto Mountains and the searing afternoon sun. The architects’ mandate, says Jim Adamson, “was to make the house energy-efficient and use replenishable materials. We had to figure out a way to keep the sun from cooking the house and create overhangs that didn’t cut off the mountain views.”’

Insulation and ventilation played major roles. The walls are composed of Rastra-recycled polystyrene mixed with cement that can be stacked like building blocks and filled on-site with reinforced concrete. The curved metal roof acts as a radiant barrier, deflecting heat before it gets into the house. Vents throughout help maintain a steady temperature day and night; window glazing that consists of a transparent piece of “heat mirror” between two layers of glass reflects energy back out; motorized shutters help moderate the heat. A swamp cooler allows for cheaper, evaporative air to circulate, except during late summer, when humidity builds up and conventional air-conditioning kicks in. An outdoor misting system surrounds the perimeter of the courtyard and the west-facing balconies off the bedrooms.

The splashes of color outside combine sage green, which picks up the hue of the trees in the wash, with sand walls and a vivid magenta trellis (“our bordello touch--it matches the bougainvillea planted by the gates,” says Adamson) that leads from the semicircular driveway into the courtyard. Inside, a dramatic, undulating ceiling of laminated bamboo highlights the living area, with its floors of stained concrete. White stucco walls provide a backdrop for the couple’s collection of Mexican and Southwestern art and artifacts and custom-designed furniture in primary colors.

For Adele, moving to Palm Springs from their Northern California house, which they recently sold, was a homecoming of sorts. She was raised in the desert and graduated from Palm Springs High School. For his part, George wanted to relocate to a more bohemian part of the desert, where “people are getting younger, not older.” The Nortons hope their “soft environmental high-tech house” will start a design renaissance in the desert, or at least be part of one. As to why they prefer to build houses (they are currently thinking of asking Jersey Devil for a fourth house in New Mexico) instead of buying an existing one, George says, “It’s for the satisfaction of knowing we’ll end up with a house that’s 90% perfect. Building a house is the same procedure as collecting art--we think we have enough vision to know what’s good and what stinks.”