Dinner in the Ruin: Paul Goff and Tony Angelotti’s enchanting party spot

Dusk sets on ruins of a stone house transformed into an enchanting party spot in the Pipes Canyon area of Pioneertown, near Joshua Tree National Park. Owners Paul Goff and Tony Angelotti call it the Ruin, their place for potlucks under the stars. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

July 3, 2013 4:07 PM PT

An abandoned house transforms into an alfresco retreat for dinner with friends in Pipes Canyon, near Joshua Tree National Park.

As sundown approaches, party guests talk in front of the remains of a fireplace. When Paul Goff and Tony Angelotti first came upon the property about 12 years ago, the small stone house was in bad shape. When the roof came down, the property’s next life as a remote, open-air spot to entertain friends began to take shape. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Later afternoon shadows fall on the remains of the house. In May, the owners drove to the Central California town of Lindsay to buy three 75-year-old olive trees that provide shade during the day and act as tent poles for overhead string lights at night. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

The heart of the courtyard is a Middle Eastern-style table that’s more than 10 feet long and 6 feet wide. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Barbed wire strung on rustic branches outlines the property. The point, Goff says, is to preserve the roughness of the setting. “People travel all over the world, and they see ruins of homes and dream of restoring them. But we love our Ruin as a ruin.” (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

The original wood framing of a window, now brightened by a different kind of desert star. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Tiki torches light the way to the party. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

The Ruin’s owners built the bar with empty wine bottles saved from previous dinner parties. Set inside recycled window frames from an old gas station and strung with lights, the bottles now make for ... (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

...charming furniture. The bar was built in two days by using about 120 bottles stacked with concrete. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

As the sun drops, the high desert puts on its own light show... (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

“It’s magical,” Paul Goff says. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

The Ruin, as seen from the original entry gate to the property. When owners Paul Goff and Tony Angelotti first came upon the property, there barely were the remains of a road to reach it. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

“When people ask me what we plan to do with it, I tell them: Nothing,” Goff says. “It’s done.” (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

The high desert moon, with assists from string lights and the photographer’s shutter speed and aperture setting, captures the glow of Paul Goff and Tony Angelotti’s recent summer solstice party at the Ruin. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)