Mclain Residence
1,600 square feet | tucson, arizona
architect: repp + mclain design & construction
general contractor: repp + mclain design & construction
materials: stained concrete, hot rolled steel, birch plywood, Trex, recycled concrete
photographs: Liam Frederick
This 1960s adobe house in midtown Tucson originally suffered from a series of small, disconnected rooms and a layer of dated ornamentation that muted the underlying ease of the structure. The goal of the renovation was not to reinvent the home, but to reveal it. By stripping away decades of aesthetic clutter, the design team sought to restore the home’s mid-century integrity while adapting the floor plan for a more fluid, modern lifestyle. A custom, wall-to-wall birch bookcase now punctuates the main gallery, serving as a functional spine that unites the primary living spaces.
The restoration began by removing interior walls to create an expansive, breathable floor plan that highlights the home’s most honest features: the rhythmic exposed beam ceilings, soaring floor-to-ceiling windows, and raw, exposed adobe block.
To complement these heavy, earth-bound elements, a light and precise palette of birch plywood and hot-rolled steel was carefully inserted. These materials provide a sharp, industrial contrast to the soft texture of the adobe, bridging the gap between historic construction and contemporary craft.
This architectural intervention provides both a sense of scale and a warm, tactile backdrop for daily life. Through this careful balance of preservation and modern insertion, the home has been transformed from a series of closed-off cells into a singular, light-filled sanctuary that honors its desert roots.
