basically uninhabitable but highly regarded

In May, for a cover story in The New York Times Magazine, Michael Kimmelman, the chief art critic of The Times, interviewed Richard Tuttle and Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, an artist and a poet, who complained that the 1,300-square-foot guesthouse Mr. Holl designed for them in New Mexico had cost more than $600,000, twice its original budget, and was, Mr. Tuttle said, “uninhabitable half the time.” Mr. Holl said that he had received nothing but compliments about the house. (A representative for the artists said they were too busy with current work to offer any further comment.)