Sol to Soul: A Desert Retreat Built for Writers, Kept for Generations

The pavement ends at Gamma Gulch. From there, a private dirt road winds through fields of Joshua trees and past outcroppings of granite, stacked and scattered as if someone set them down mid-thought. There is no cell signal here. Then the driveway turns, and a clean-lined white house appears among the boulders, catching the light as if it arrived from somewhere else entirely.

Above it rises Whale Rock. The massive, whale-shaped boulder is one of the most photographed in the high desert, and it seems to lean over the house to greet each arrival. The owners call it a sentinel, a reminder that a sea once moved across this land.

This is Sol to Soul. Ryne Posey remembers the first time he saw it.

"I've never seen a house like this. I've never seen topography like this. We walked into the house, it just felt magical." — Ryne Posey

An unlikely path to the desert

Ryne Posey is a partner at a large law firm in Los Angeles. His wife, Anna, is a physician. Neither set out to own a vacation home. About three and a half years ago, on parental leave after their second child, Ryne began looking at short-term rentals as a practical financial decision. It quickly became a personal one.

The interest in homes runs in the family. Ryne grew up in Kansas City, where his grandmother, a business owner herself, collected farmhouses and other properties. Her real passion, though, was Sedona, Arizona.

"I think I picked up the house bug from my grandmother and my mom as well." — Ryne Posey

The Poseys had searched the Pioneertown and Joshua Tree area for a long time. They saw plenty of nice houses, but this one stood out. A well-connected local agent who knew the seller brokered the deal, and the house closed in April 2024.

Then came the first visit as owners, and a wave of nerves. Ryne calls himself the least handy person ever, and this was a house with a well and a propane tank.

"When it closed and we went out there as homeowners the first time, I was like, 'What did we just do?'" — Ryne Posey

The nerves didn't last. The house already carried a reputation: Dwell featured it in 2019, and Condé Nast Traveler named it California's coolest vacation rental in 2021. Delsey and Visual Pleasure magazine have since ranked it among the top 10 stays in the US.

"Regardless of how well it performs as a short-term rental, I think it's just a statement property that we're going to keep in our family for as long as we possibly can." — Ryne Posey

Its following now reaches well beyond design magazines. When Steph Barkley, the realtor known for her comic Instagram house tours, reached out about a collaboration, Ryne and Anna found her hilarious and jumped on the opportunity, and the result became a guest favorite.

A house that clicks together

Sol to Soul was built in 2019 by Cover, a prefab builder based in Gardena, California. It is not a traditional stick-built house. The structure is steel beams with panelized walls, and it uses radiant heating and cooling instead of a conventional HVAC system.

"It's not your traditional stick-built home. This is steel beams, and the walls clip in like Legos." — Ryne Posey

Cover's approach is now in demand closer to the city. The company is helping families rebuild fire-damaged lots in the Pacific Palisades.

The house also had a purpose from the start. Its previous owner, a Los Angeles writer, created it as a retreat for people like her.

"It was originally designed to be an off-grid retreat to spark curiosity and creativity for writers and other creatives — for people to get off the grid without feeling too uncomfortably off the grid." — Ryne Posey

Inside: clean and fresh

She also designed the interiors, and the Poseys bought the home fully furnished. They have kept her vision largely intact, adding a new couch and new art for the walls. Two gray chairs are next to go.

Inside, there is a quiet rhythm to the space. Neutral tones rest against white walls and white countertops, and desert light shifts across them through the day. The kitchen is sleek and modern, anchored by a Sub-Zero refrigerator. Every piece is chosen to blend into the whole, so the room feels clean, fresh, and open to the landscape beyond the glass.

Otherworldly and easy to live in

Southern California Edison lines bring in power, and the house runs on a well and propane. There is no cell service, but the internet is good. Guests can disconnect completely or answer one email before heading back outside.

That mix of raw land and modern comfort is what people remember.

"It feels like you're in the park, like Joshua Tree National Park, without being in the park. A lot of people describe it as otherworldly, because you've got raw desert all around you in this modern home with modern amenities." — Ryne Posey

It draws couples and, more often than Ryne expected, young families: anyone ready to trade the city for open sky and time outdoors.

The healing desert

Ryne had never heard of Pioneertown before the search began. Yet the pull of the place felt familiar. Like Sedona, the landscape his grandmother loved, the country around Joshua Tree has long been held to carry something restorative.

"Joshua Tree is similar to Sedona, known or believed to have some mythical, healing powers — just like the Joshua trees themselves, and how ancient they are." — Ryne Posey

The high desert has drawn seekers for generations. In the 1950s, George Van Tassel raised the Integratron, an all-wood dome in nearby Landers, on a site he believed held a powerful geomagnetic vortex. Artists, musicians, and writers followed, among them the writer who built Sol to Soul as a place for creative work. The house's own website describes the desert as calling to "the seeker in us all."

Ryne is careful not to overstate it. His version is quieter, and perhaps more convincing.

"I'm not the most spiritual person out there, but I will say the desert, especially Pioneertown, is a terrific place to go out and just recharge and get away from city life and to connect with nature." — Ryne Posey

At Sol to Soul, that restoration arrives in simple forms. Morning light moves slowly across the boulders. Without a cell signal, the day slows to the pace of the sun. Guests, Ryne says, most often describe the house in one word: relaxing.

Even the name hints at the design. Sol, the sun, is held at bay along the south face, where the walls stay nearly closed against the desert heat. The north side opens fully to the boulders and the sky, and that is where the soul of the house lives: in the stillness, the views, and the slow restoration the desert is known for. Sun on one side, soul on the other.

The Poseys return four or five times a year. Even two hours from Los Angeles, Ryne says, it can be hard to get away as often as they would like.

Around Pioneertown

Sol to Soul sits in Pipes Canyon, minutes from Mane Street, the weathered Western film set built in 1946, where Pappy & Harriet's has served open-fire barbecue and live music since the 1980s. Just past town, the Pioneertown Mountains Preserve offers free trails through boulder fields and canyons. Joshua Tree National Park is about 40 minutes away, and nearby Landers is home to the Integratron, whose crystal-bowl sound baths sell out weeks ahead. In the town of Joshua Tree, Noah Purifoy's outdoor museum of assemblage sculpture stands open to the desert air. At night, the finest view may be from the house itself, where the Milky Way spreads across the sky above Whale Rock.

What comes next

A swimming pool is planned for the ten acres. Across the road sits a small homestead cabin from the early 1900s, and next to it, the Poseys plan to build a second home meant to complement Sol to Soul. They manage everything themselves, alongside two full-time careers.

A more direct way to stay

Like many independent owners, the Poseys have watched rising platform fees reshape what guests pay. With full prices now shown up front, Ryne says, those fees no longer pass quietly to guests.

"Guests are getting sticker shock now when they see the fully loaded costs up front. So there isn't really a cost pass-through. The cost did fall to the owners." — Ryne Posey

Through Locèlle, guests reserve directly with Ryne and Anna, with no added platform fees and a direct line to the people who know the house best. It is a fitting way to arrive at a home built for stillness and kept with intention.

Book directly with the owners through Locèlle—travel fee-free and with complete transparency.

Photos courtesy of Ryne and Anna Posey / Sol to Soul.