A-Z West is located on twenty-five acres in the California high desert next to Joshua Tree National Park. Since fall 1999 the cabin and grounds have been undergoing an ongoing conversion into our all-new testing grounds for our " A-Z designs for living".

This desert region originally appealed to us because it seemed that one could "do anything here" - which we are finding out isn't exactly true! It is also the historical site of the five-acre Homestead Act. In the 1940s and 50s legislation gave people 5 acres of land for free if they could improve it by building a minimal structure. The result is a seemingly infinite grid system of dirt roads that cuts up a very beautiful desert region. In the middle of each perfect square of land is a tiny shack - most of them long since abandoned. The area and its history represent a very poignant clash of human idealism, the harshness of the desert climate and the vast distances that it places in between people.