“The previous owner did the hard work of making the home livable and comfortable, and we came in and made it gay,” says Williamson, who is currently in post-production with “Unconventional,” a television project he created and stars in, shot in Joshua Tree and Palm Springs.
To make the house a home, or what they are calling their “homo homestead,” the couple invested $50,000 on upgrades including a remodel of the two bathrooms and the creation of outdoor living spaces that overlook the property’s Joshua trees and cholla cactuses (there is also a coyote den at the rear of the property littered with bones).
The house has all the elements of what they are calling “Midcentury Modern meets bohemian cowboy”: rattan, leather, gold, metal and natural materials that blend into the views. A new wood-burning fireplace backed by graphic concrete tiles from Villa Lagoon Tile add warmth, as does pink tile from Concrete Collaborative in the kitchen.
In the backyard, there are now several spots for lounging, including a covered patio and outdoor dining room, a trio of hammocks where the couple likes to watch the sunset, the 1950s camper trailer they drove across the country in “EastSiders,” and an aqua-blue-painted cowboy tub from H2O Tank Avenue.
Finding contractors proved to be a difficult pursuit after so many people migrated to the desert. “It was a saga,” says Halbach, director of video and social media for the LGBTQ-owned media company Q. Digital. “We went through four contractors. We had to find people who specialized in certain things rather than hand over the reins. We became owner-contractors and managed the property ourselves.”
The cost of many materials, including lumber, skyrocketed during construction. “We built a mini-deck that cost a lot more than we expected,” Williamson says. When they hired someone to install a tile accent wall on the outside of the house, the handyman didn’t know how to grout the tile. “I was frantically Googling ‘how to do tile work’ and spent the next two days finishing the project,” Williamson says. “We have become really handy.”
Sidelined by supply chain issues, the couple shopped at many local stores including Geode & Gypsum, Acme 5, Cactus Mart, Joshua Tree Blanket Company, Black Luck Vintage and Los Angeles-based Bend. They even picked up tile from Concrete Collaborative in San Marcos and drove it back to the desert in a U-Haul and assembled modular furniture from Burrow themselves.
The couple say they miss their friends in Los Angeles but aren’t lonely. “Weirdly, we have met more of our neighbors on this dirt road than we ever did in Silver Lake,” Williamson says. And besides, it’s a place that people want to visit. Another bonus: For the first time in their adult lives, they have a dishwasher, a washer/dryer and, most important, accommodations for visitors. Their parents live in Mississippi and Minnesota and have all visited since the duo moved.
“Weirdly we have met more of our neighbors on this dirt road than we ever did in Silver Lake.”
“We have a room for our parents,” says Williamson. “It’s been really special getting to share this with them.”
After growing up in Jackson, Miss., Williamson finds it surprising that he has come full circle. “I never saw myself coming back to a rural area,” he says. “But then queer people have always been pioneers, and I feel like this is the beginning of a new chapter for the high desert.”
Kit Williamson: “I have so many park recommendations, but my biggest would be to go to Keys View, where we got married. It’s an incredible place to watch the sunset, and you can see all the way to the Salton Sea.”
John Halbach: “I’d throw in the Cholla Cactus Garden. It’s really beautiful, like being on another planet. I’d also recommend stopping at Road Runner for great to-go food to take into the park. They are located on your way to the Joshua Tree entrance. They’ve got sandwiches, salads and fun snacks for sharing like antipasto and hummus.”
