When I asked a local why they call it Wonder Valley, she laughed and said, "Because after you live there for a while, you begin to wonder why."

Located on the high southern edge of the Mojave Desert, its wide, flat, treeless, arid basin is dotted randomly with the remains of dozens of small shacks homesteaders have built and abandoned over the last 50 years. The heat and lack of humidity preserve any artifacts scavengers have left behind.

Each structures' small footprint is a result of the roughly 12 by 16 foot minimum size - measurements vary depending on who you talk to - required by homestead regulations. This simple limitation, like the haiku's three-line stanza, has yielded a wide variety of design solutions.

environs
12' X 16'
interiors
totem
12'X16' 12/05
million house

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