CITTADINA

Desert Luxury Glamping Experience

My Role Founder, Designer, Builder
Where Veguita, New Mexico
Goal To build an off-grid homestead and 3-unit vacation rental.

Concept A small 3-unit off-grid desert getaway with luxury-feeling amenities, built with natural earthen techniques adjacent to an off-grid homestead. The end result is a fully functional property complete with a home and turn-key business. 

I'm not afraid to dream big.

Bringing those big dreams to reality, well, that's a whole different story. Usually I'm missing one or more of the vital factors: time, money, or space. And, for Cittadina, it was no different. 

For once, I had time. And, after securing my property, I had space. As for money, I had a small nugget saved up. To me, it was a fortune. To a project like this, a drop in the bucket. So, I tried to make it work. I planned. I planned out every penny. And, then, I dove into developing a piece of raw land, in the desert, completely off-grid, and mostly alone. 

Of course, before I broke ground, or even set foot on my property, I had the logo and branding all finished. 

Cittadina means "small town" in Italian (at least according to google translate). And, I fell in love with the sound of it (Pronounced Chee-ta-dee-na) and the idea of creating my own small town. 

I had originally planned on building Cittadina in South Carolina. So, I incorporated references to their Palm and crecent moon in my branding. When plans suddenly needed to change, I left it in as a nod to where the seed was originally planted and years of planning and dreaming had taken place. 

​Hidden amongst the logo pattern are domes and pavers as well as a thick perimeter wall. A deconstructed version of Cittadina's main elements, arranged to evoke a vintage stamp. So that your destination, Cittadina, itself might transport you not only to a relaxing vacation away from it all, but possibly, to a different time entirely. 

Little did I know, that no branding or fancy dream would be needed.

Simply living off-grid in a treacherous desert was enough to make one feel as though they stepped back in time or, possibly, into a different dimension entirely. No building needed for that experience.

But, I had my plans.

An entire hard-case folder of them. I had drawn them and redrawn them too many times to count. I also had my shopping lists (with photos, pricing and qr codes for quick reference), permit paperwork, and anything else I could think of. 

I would get there and create my basecamp. A no-nonsense space where I could meet my basic needs as easily as possible and reserve the rest of my time, money, and energy to building Cittadina.

After basecamp, the domes for Cittadina would go up first. Then the bathroom and shower area. She would be a rustic camp initially, but at least she would have the bones to rent her out. With rentals secured, I'd be able to save and build more. And, with each addition, charge more. 

After the initial build, the perimeter wall would go up, a 14' tall behemoth made of hyperadobe. This vital addition would protect Cittadina and her guests from the myriad of dangerous elements in the area as well as provide the shell for her future luxury amenities, like the outdoor kitchen, natural pool, and fire pit lounge. 

General idea for Cittadina's entrance.

Inside each dome would be a partition wall just inside the door, of which the other side of is the closet. There would be a ceiling fan in each room, 2 twin beds, a seating/lounge area, and desk. This is the initial concept. 

Initial concept for the bathroom, shower, and changing area. 

Small section of the Cittadina moodboard.

But first, basecamp needed to be built.

This is where everything started to go sideways and I felt Cittadina slipping through my fingers. I ran out of money, time, and energy.

Average construction contingencies are around 10% of the total build cost. I would say for off-grid projects, you may want to have double, if not, triple the amount of your build cost tucked away. Because, when things fail off-grid, they tend to fail in a very expensive way.

​The same goes for build time, just double or triple that as well. If you need to get replacement parts in the mail, that will probably take a solid month. Anything vital that fails that you aren't able to fix yourself (like, for me, my only solar generator battery) you probably won't have the repaired version of for at least a month (it took almost 3 months).

Be sure to check out my YouTube videos below where I talk about the whole process.

Basecamp Build Photos

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