Architecture Wednesday: Casa Karina

Casa Karina is a luxury home in San Miguel de Allende—one of the places in which I would love to retire—which perfectly blends contemporary design with eye-catching rustic elements. The attention to detail is second to none and the home features both indoor and outdoor living areas which are mindfully designed to complement your mood.

One enters Casa Karina through a commanding 19th-Century River Teak door which was imported from Rajasthan, India And are immediately welcomed by a handmade hammock which sits next to a fireplace. The floors and beams are made from recycled hardwood ‘Trojes’ from the state of Michoacán, which is prominent in the blue tones of the kitchen’s ceiling. All of the doors in the home are made from heavy antique mesquite wood, also from Michoacán.

The living room has a double-height ceiling which fills the floor plan with natural light, some of the light streaming through the glass-bottomed rooftop pool. The chef’s kitchen perfectly blends contemporary functionality—a complete range of Viking appliances—and vintage-chic finishes like raw quartzite countertops and a sink sculpted from a large river stone.

The ground floor hosts one of the spacious bedroom suites, which opens up to the main living room area. This bedroom is furnished with a king-sized bed and has a fireplace while the en-suite bath features a double vanity with sinks upscaled from coffee mortars, quartzite counters, and tan river stone flooring. The room is complete with a bathtub and shower.

The second bedroom is located on the upper level and also features a king- sized bed and fireplace along with a cozy reading nook-window seat which captures sight of the Parroquia. The en-suite bathroom is finished with grey shaved stone flooring, a river stone sink, and a large walk-in shower. Also on this floor are a TV room with a custom L-shaped sofa and an office with a desk and a Balinese day bed.

This stylish home—located at the top of a quiet pedestrian street [Callejon] just below San Miguel’s main lookout point—has another great selling point: a rooftop terrace that captures sweeping panoramic sunset views, including sight of the town’s most famous landmark—the Parroquia de San Miguel—and features a heated glass bottom swimming pool, a black marble firepit with wraparound seating, an outdoor kitchen with a Viking barbecue grill, a half bathroom and laundry room.

You could live up there!

Dwell

Architecture Wednesday: Casa Etérea

There’s that scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey where the monolith appears in the dessert and the apes go, well, ape. This monolith appeared in the hills above San Miguel de Allende and I went nuts; not just because it’s one of the places in the world where I would want to live, but because of the house itself.

Casa Etérea, AKA Ethereal House, is both architecture and art installation; a secluded mirrored house on a mountainside in Mexico offers travelers the freedom to reconnect with nature. The house sits in a  grove of mesquite trees, clad in bird-friendly mirrored panels and seems to disappear into the rugged terrain of the extinct volcano Palo Huérfano.

It was conceived as an off-grid hideaway for two—by Mexico-based Singaporean writer and designer Prashant Ashoka. Casa Etérea is an 800-square-foot dwelling that draws all its power from solar energy, gets all its water supply from collected rainwater, and uses a patterned ultraviolet coating on the mirrored exterior making it visible to birds while remaining reflective to the human eye.

Ashoka wanted to leave the landscape untouched, so the foundation of the house was built entirely from rock collected off the mountain. And by utilizing site orientation, efficient ventilation design, and insulated glass, the house naturally regulates temperature in the semi-arid desert climate of the central Mexican highlands.

Inside, the open-planned concept consists of two rectilinear volumes that merge at a 120-degree V-shaped intersection, mimicking the angle of the ravine visible through the exposed glass shower. From the central living space and bedroom, floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors frame vistas of towering cliffs, while opening to connect with a decked patio and pool area shaded by olive and pomegranate trees. Inside, exposed ceiling beams and concrete walls celebrate the construction process, while a material palate of jute, leather, wood and stone continue the natural aesthetic for the furnishings—including a statement copper bathtub beside the bed. Behind the intimate kitchen, a rooftop stairway access doubles as a utility room, and remote-controlled outdoor PVC shutters were added to provide security and privacy.

But while the inside is lovely and luxe and peaceful, it’s the outside that stuns. The mirrored façade diffuses the liminal space between the wild and the structured while allowing the volume to take on a transitional quality as it reflects the unfolding seasons. As it catches first light, the house gleams as a blue-tinged box, standing in glassy contrast against the felted nocturnal blackness of the mountainside. And in the ombre hues of sunset the volume scintillates against the landscape like a mirage, before disappearing entirely.

And yet it’s the night sky, flooded with stars that reflects the true beauty, the ethereal nature, of Casa Etérea Casa. And, best of all, no one lives in the house, because it’s used as a retreat, a getaway, a place to just be …

 Arch Daily  Amazing Architecture