Architecture Wednesday: Joya Villa

This new home, in the Puntarenas Canton area of Costa Rica, is 3229 square feet of Pacific Ocean vistas and jungle surroundings… and sleek, modern, open and breezy on the inside.

To be fair, the steep slope of the lot, makes the view of the Pacific visible only from the upper-middle part of the grounds, but the owners accepted that challenge. Normally, homes built on these sites would sit atop large retaining walls, but this home was literally elevated, allowing the slope, land, vegetation, water and animals to flow underneath. In addition, the home is crafted of steel beams, that create openings toward the views on every level and make it seem almost lightweight. Add to that the open floorplan, rooms flowing from one to the other, inside to put, that make the home feeling truly light and airy.

And a perfect place to relax and unwind, or just live.

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Architecture Wednesday: Cielomar

I love a house with a gorgeous view; one where you can stand outside and see the ocean or lake or forest, or even a great cityscape. But I really love a house that is a good view and Cielomar is that kind of house. Where you can stand outside and the house is the view.

Cielomar—a combination of two Spanish words meaning Heaven and sea—is on the Papagayo Peninsula in the Guanacaste Province of Costa Rica, where the sun and the temperature practically beg you to spend time outside each day.

From the approach the house seems simple; interesting, but simple. The house is made up of one long, straight corridor and built off from there is a unique curving structure. While the front seems quite shy, and private, the back of the home is covered in glass, to bring the views into the home.

Walk through the front door and there are two curving hallways going off to you left and right, but it’s the path in front that takes your breath away; I call it ‘the plank’ and you walk it through the house to above the edge of the pool deck and that view.

The infinity pool, the sun deck, the open areas, the plank, from which you can dive into the pool; the living room, without walls, the dining area tucked under the plank; a chef’s kitchen, a gorgeous bathroom.

Everywhere you look, a view.

Click to emBIGGERate ..

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Photo Credits: PaulDomzal/edgemediaprod.com

Architecture Wednesday: Casa Magayon

Sometimes hillsides, no matter how picturesque the view might be, pare too challenging a space to build. But, sometimes, it’s worth the challenge, as in the case of Casa Magayon in Guanacaste, Costa Rica.

The site had a sharp 65-foot drop between the road and a small ridge but it made the perfect spot on which to site this house. The ridge itself became the location for the main social spaces and private master suite wing, while the rest of the house was laid out to follow the natural shape of the land as it turned into the hillside at about 45 degrees to the ridge. The property is very close to the water in a completely calm bay that overlooks the pacific and allows for a hike down to a small rocky beach down below the home.

The design concept is a series of independent glass cubes connected by outdoor covered corridors which all follow the natural terrain. This provides a constant indoor-outdoor flow as you walk through the home, and enables you to enjoy the tropical jungle in both indoor rooms and outdoor areas. The idea of the glass cubes was to bring the jungle, the view to the bay and the main sunset view to the ocean completely inside the home.

The outdoor spaces are nestled between the main wing and the bedrooms wing and become the centerpiece of the design, with a deep lap pool parallel to the home’s main wing and an elevated deck space with steel lookout bridge elevated 36 feet over the land below, and jumping platform to dive into the pool.

The exterior of the home is crafted of grey lava stones, combined with a two-tone palette of cool grey and olive-grey stucco walls; the large glass cubes are built and framed burnt-ochre exposed steel and it’s these colors of the home that mimic the natural colors in the surrounding jungle.

The indoor-outdoor theme continues with the exterior stone surfaces flowing indoors, as in the living room and master bathroom, to allow for a connection with the jungle outside. In the master bathroom, the free-standing tub is framed by a square picture window facing the creek area while the large open shower with frameless glass doors continues outside to an outdoor shower area.

This modular approach helps reduce the home’s air conditioned area only to the areas that need to be air conditioned;  the natural green roof with extensive overhangs provide very good insulation and solar control, which all help to massively reduce the total air conditioning load needed to cool the home.

It sits in the jungle, like a jungle fun house, but also seems to feel as if it’s part of its surroundings. It’s definitely a party house, with room to spare for any number of guests ... or just two homos, their three cats and their little Pocket Dog.

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