Located in the upper valley basin along the Texas border line and edgeing New Mexico and Mexico,  this  6,000 sq ft single family dwelling exists in a sliver of fertile farmland surrounded by hot dry desert landscape to the south and the looming Franklin Mountains to the north. The site is a midpoint between the mountains and the mesas, with the  Rio Grande a quarter  mile to the north.  The Rio Grande deliniates the line between the twin cities of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua. The twin cities are a mere sliver in the landscape.  The cause of this sliver being the river which is the regions life blood. This valley is host to large sections of farmland. A system of irrigation canals and ground wells, serve as the aquifer for the farmland.  Viewing the city from different distances reveals  strong horizontal lines cut into the landscape. The river acts as the slicing element, cutting itself through the city, along the valley, and around the mountain. This site lends itself to this idea as well. The  house  elements: walls, floor plates and roof  stretch in different directions acting as slivers in the ground and in the sky. Walls become roof and roof becomes platform. A game of exposing one element and hiding another is played between each element in the house.