architecture

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Mountain Life At The Casa MM

Nothing says American like one hand on the wheel, with the other hand hanging lazily by the convertible’s door. This image, of hightailing to the spotless fields of America’s numerous anyplace dirt-lined sojourns, is one of endless drive. The impulse to go somewhere, to keep going. Which is why we don’t bother much with destinations. But if it’s the Casa MM you’re going to, where you end up is just as important as getting there.

Sitting at the foot of a mountain range, the Casa MM not only draws in tourists, but those daring at heart. The spirits seeking the adventure of a lifetime, or at least someplace they can let loose. The nearby trails illicit a sense of wonder and curiosity for travel.

The dwelling itself, too, is a portrait of calm and peace. To combat the high traffic area, it uses a wedge shape: the narrow end of the house is oriented toward the paths, while the roofline is inclines toward the peaks. Positioned this way, the house takes the focus off visiting hikers and places it on the surrounding scenery. The solution seems simple enough to overlook, but the designers of the Casa MM integrated it cleverly.

You’ll also see that it features a sloping profile that mimics the rolling terrain enveloping it. Meanwhile, the concrete and stone facade complements the rugged environment. Some external materials remain exposed on the interior and intersect with wood tones. The combination evinces a unique atmospheric calmness, as if two different properties found a way to get along and converge. The result? Sheer beauty.

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Photos courtesy of Alarcia Ferrer

August 18, 2019 / Comments Off

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The Tera Cabin Is A 3D-Printed Getaway In The Woods

3D printed homes don’t come as a shock anymore. Ever since this unique method of building entered mainstream techniques we’ve seen a number of experiments employing this kind of printing. The Tera Cabin is one such example, though the difference this time is that it’s far more utilitarian than its superfluous contemporaries.

Using the same space-grade technology as Marsha, which won the NASA Centennial Challenge, SpaceFactory takes 3D print to a whole new level with the Tera Cabin. In and of itself, the dwelling is an impressive experiment. But it stretches beyond just being great because its aesthetic underpinnings have a purpose. The Tera Cabin gives a taste of what life on another planet would be like. And you don’t even have to leave Earth to experience such a sensation.

The cone-like exterior seems rightfully futuristic, like something you’d see in a Ridley Scott sci-fi movie. This structure comes formed thanks to a sustainable mixture of sugar and basalt. It boasts a living area, a sleeping loft, and a bathroom. The windows, which you’ll see come in diamond shapes, provide views of the rural vastness outside. You can also go to the outdoor terrace that overlooks the riverbank for more spectacular voice of the wilderness enveloping the dwelling.

Each stay in this futuristic getaway will contribute to research and development. Comfort and science; two birds with one stone. It will also help SpaceFactory fund future projects. The Tera Cabin will open its doors for visitors starting March 2020. Hit the link below for more information.

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August 18, 2019 / Comments Off

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Forest Living In The MH House

Per Jacobsen, this São Paulo haven is a slice of creature comfort amidst the rich Atlantic forest. Pretty nice surroundings, we should say. The MH House interacts with the greenery enveloping it by evoking a free-flowing design.

But really, though, what does “free-flowing” men? Is it another mumbo-jumbo on minimalism? Well, partly, yes. Free-flowing could mean less things and less distractions. But at the heart of it, free-flowing takes away as many boundaries as possible to redefine the constrictions of space by opposing it. In effect, you get quarters that don’t feel removed from the total structure — an integrated living abode with its parts in peaceful harmony.

You’ll find here an abundance of glazed doors, sliding open to fetch you from the main living area toward a large outdoor terrace for open-air living. Open-air living might be too on the nose in describing a space that resides in the forest, but that’s a small blemish of semantics. And, really, how else might it be described? There’s lush vegetation everywhere. And it’s around you. Open-air living sounds just right.

This outdoor space offers an atmosphere that’s both cozy and calm. You can swim, longue, read a novel, or just stare at the just in idle. Elsewhere, you’ll see a modern aesthetic, but with natural materials thrown in for a healthy balance. You’ll see plenty of wood-lined surfaces, sawed granite floors, and timber cladding. The house invites the outside in. It’s such a cliche thing to say, of course. But cliches exist for a reason.

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Photos courtesy of Jacobsen

July 27, 2019 / Comments Off

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The Atelier Monolit Beach House Concept Is A Panoramic Coastal Paradise

Areas that are close to bodies of water are usually prime locations that some architects love to work with. Perhaps it’s the potential for crafting various awe-inspiring views that anyone will be the envy of everybody. Moreover, when the designer chooses to build a structure that does not take away the beauty of the scenery, the results are nothing short of jaw-dropping.

We recently featured a concept called the Türlersee Lake House, that is set on the shores of a majestic lake. However, we’re thinking the Atelier Monolit Beach House concept is our new favorite.

We’ve seen a lot of nature-inspired houses and we’ve noticed that curves play a big part in its aesthetics. This is understandable because, in a natural setting, it’s almost impossible to see a straight line. On the other hand, the Romanian studio is deliberately taking a different route with their latest project.

Their proposal starts off with a panoramic beachfront property that sits along a rocky shoreline. On this location will rise a modern geometric retreat that calls out to those who love the sea. We can already imagine chilling out with the sound of the waves as our background beat.

You can see that the Atelier Monolit Beach House comes with two floors. Taking into account that the tide occasionally comes in, the structure is elevated with stairs leading up. The first floor houses the kitchen, dining area, and a living area that faces the ocean. Climb up to the second level to enjoy the rooftop pool and lounge space that would look even better in the evening. For now, this exists only as a computer render, but can quickly become reality as long as you have the money.

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Images courtesy of Atelier Monolit

July 26, 2019 / Comments Off

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The Red Hill Farm House Is The Perfect Ranch Hideaway

Here comes a modern twist on the all-American classic. The Red Hill Farm House subverts conventional ranch house design by making heavy use of blackened timber facades. A design choice that mimics the essence of local farm houses while pushing it a notch further.

Sitting on the Mornington Peninsula near Melbourne, the Carr and Jackson Clements Burrows Architects-designed retreat draws from a concept from the latter. The property features an area of farm land enveloped with open paddocks that sweep down toward the coastline.

The house’s design and materials draw from its surroundings. In other words, the region’s rural vibe inform the architecture, influencing elements including stables, fences, and the tasteful minimalism of its exterior. The architects explain:

“The volumes are utilitarian in their typology, where function is reduced to a minimum and openings are large and dramatic.”

You’ll notice the Red Hill Farm House boasts a lower profile than most other ranch retreats. To be clear, the decision is a deliberate one. The architects wanted to make the space subtle and keep it from standing out like a sore thumb. Moreover, modern twists here include a roofline that folds and creases to create a series of angular forms. As a result, you get a nice call back to the rugged ranges of the region’s landscape. The architects say:

“At first hidden from view, the roof line unfolds on approach, revealing itself fully on arrival in a playful origami of angles and immediately announcing the modernist approach taken.”

The result is a sublime, subdued take on the familiar farm house aesthetic. Check out more photos below.

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Photos courtesy of Carr

July 25, 2019 / Comments Off

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Nature Inspires Design With The Türlersee Lake House

Due to the influx of new automobiles, gadgets, motorcycles, EDCs, and footwear, we haven’t been showcasing a lot of architecture. We want our readers to know that Men’s Gear loves to talk about unique and stunning structures. Hence, let’s take a look at another impressive one from the folk at WAFAI Architects. This Turin, Italy-based outfit creates another residential masterpiece – the Türlersee Lake House.

What’s so exceptional about this build is the dynamic flowing design that allows it to match the natural scenery. In nature, it is quite rare to find a straight surface, which is why the structure features sloping curves all around.

What immediately draws your attention are the massive windows that flow gently upward until it gradually transitions into a roof. Likewise, the generous distribution of glass panels throughout the building has a specific purpose. It’s easy to guess that this approach allows sunlight to be the primary source of illumination.

Other than natural lighting, the view it affords is absolutely breathtaking. This luxurious villa will sit on the edge of the serene Türlersee lake in Switzerland. Moreover, a lush forest surrounds the area that makes it even more alluring. Thus, the architects want it to stand in harmony with its surroundings.

As such, the exterior aesthetics are already ideal, but the interior adds another awesome element to the project. Mimicking the sloping windows are the wooden stairs also twist in parallel to the surface. The second floor overlooks the pool area and offers an even better vantage point. The Türlersee Lake House is a great example of how architects draw inspiration from nature to build something amazing.

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Images courtesy of WAFAI Architects

July 24, 2019 / Comments Off

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Pentahouse

Architect Karina Wiciak’s Pentahouse draws inspiration from the mountain range, quite literally. Employing pentagonal geometry in the design, Wiciak created a minimalist abode featuring sloped concrete walls, recalling cliff sides and mountain peaks.

The 6,243-square feet space, supposedly, should house a single family, though you really wouldn’t know by looking at it. Yes, there are sharp, jagged edges. Despite such delicate design choices, this remains a cozy and still humble living space. It’s got a handful of extruded pentagon, all different sizes, that dovetail into one another much like mountain ranges do.

Different pentagons serve different things. For example, the smallest one forms an entrance to the house, when then loosens into a larger pentagon that boasts two liveable floors. The entire concrete space comes covered with plenty of glass windows, which let in natural light aplenty.

The only sad thing about this design? It’s just a concept. Yet, what you see are just computer-generated renderings of Wiciak’s genius. The likelihood of this ever becoming real run low, sadly. However, if by some miracle it does become real, there’s no doubt a small family will come to appreciate its oddball delights.

Not all people will realize the structure’s deconstructivist touches, and not many will appreciate its minimalist flourishings. It might even throw some people off, given its aesthetic rigidness. Still, this stands as one of the most impressive concrete spaces we’ve ever encountered, real or otherwise. Hit the link below to get more information on this beautiful concept.

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Photos courtesy of Wamhouse

July 23, 2019 / Comments Off

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Tsai House

You’re looking at the only house in the United States legendary artists Ai Weiwei designed. And it’s yours if you have $5.25 million. The Tsai House, or Tsai Residence, sits in the town of Ancram in upstate New York, built there in 2006 as a weekend retreat of Christopher Tsai. Tsai is considered the foremost collector of Ai’s art.

Graham Klemm listed the house on June 2020. The current owners bought the home from Tsai in 2013 for $4.25 million, a million less than the current sticker price. Yes, real estate is a crazy industry. Of the owners, Klemm says:

“They are art lovers, and the house is livable art. It’s extremely finely detailed and extremely interesting.”

If you don’t know Ai Weiwei, shame on you. Just kidding. Seriously, though — he’s one of the most high-profile artists in existence, in large part because of his political activism. For the 2008 Summer Olympics, he collaborated with the architects Herzog & de Meuron on the Beijing National Stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest.

Enough about Ai Weiwei and more about the house. It sits on a hill at a property that spans 37 acres. The house features three bedrooms and the same number of bathrooms. Four connected modules make up the residents, clad with corrugated metal on the exterior. Then you have soft gypsum wood panels on the interior. You’ll find an abundance of large glass windows, which come coupled with solid walls to bring the outside in as much as possible. The empty wall spaces also invite potential owners to hang their favorite art.

Klemm considers the design as very minimalist. He adds that agricultural sheds of farms flocking the area inspired the overall design.

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Photos courtesy of Klemm

July 21, 2019 / Comments Off

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Werder Lake House

If you’re in Berlin or near, make it a point to visit the highest point of Werder Island. There, you’ll chance upon the Werder Lake House, or Haus am See. Sitting on a slope facing the river Havel, the house is nestled in between four other houses. It evokes the story of a found stone — a literal stone discovered, without style nor form, then formed into an abode.

The Werder Lake House, as you can imagine, is predominantly stone. In fact, it’s like a hollowed-out concrete body with openings cut to add windows. The effect is striking, at once Flinstones-level cartoonish and yet sublime.

In contrast to the solid block of concrete, the rest of the structures feature wood, including the free-standing partitions. These panels subdivide the interior, and there are also wooden window frames to protect inhabitants against the weather. A wooden pavilion sits on the roof. There’s also a terrace that offers a panoramic sweep of the passing Havel river. A wooden staircase, which doubles as a bookshelf, connects the two floors. You’ll find large sliding doors that provide access to the stone outdoor pool. And there’s a garden that slopes down to the river.

Despite its stone underpinnings, you’ll be surprised to know the Werder Lake House is pretty malleable in terms of how it adapts to the weather. In winter, for example, residents can stay at the garden floor. During the summer, you can retreat at the pavilion and terrace. A sturdy house that prides on transformation? Neat.

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Photos courtesy of Jurek Brueggen

July 19, 2019 / Comments Off

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Beck House

The Beck House is the Philip Johnson-designed space in Dallas, Texas. Suffice it to say this won’t stay on the market for too long given how sought-after Johnson’s masterstrokes are — and this is the only one in the city, further lowering your chances of snagging it up.

The six-bedroom modernist home was completed in 1964. Often considered a magnified version of the architect’s Pavilion in the Pond, the Beck House looks a bit different now. In 2008, Bodron + Fruit took charge and overhauled the house’s interiors. They installed a new kitchen, converted the staff quarters into an open-plan space. They also added a new pool house, a must-have cornerstone of any lavish Texas dwelling.

The most striking element of the Beck House, however, isn’t its kitchen. Not the open plan space, though that deserves its share of merits. Not even the pool. The main highlight are the columns, dramatic, sublime, eye-catching. Go beyond the entrance into the hallway and things get even more tantalizing. You’ll find twin staircases with bronze balustrades that curve up to mezzanine levels. The dining room is a vaulted ceiling’s fan heaven, albeit a modernist heaven.

Apart from six bedrooms, the Texas home also boasts seven full baths and four half-baths. Bookworms will stay cooped up in its library. Glass walls offer respite, especially for days when you feel a bit forlorn. The seven-acre house also features a media room, cabana, and a tennis court. Check out more photos below. And check the listing over at Sotheby’s for more details.

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Photos courtesy of Sotheby’s

July 10, 2019 / Comments Off

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Cove House

Only in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia will you find this spectacular residence, called the Cove House, by Jusstin Humphrey Architect. Set in Australia’s Gold Coast, the Cove House is a layered and multi-dimensional meditation on entryways and edges.

This elegant abode is a standout amid the array of equally eye-catching architecture in the area. The main feature here is a spatial interplay between the indoors and outdoors. The space is an examination of how the outside relates to the inside, and vice versa. Since the site was adjacent to the easement, it was important for the space to have an edge. It allows the opportunity to engage with the neighborhood on three sides.

Instead of sectioning them off, Justin Humphrey Architect welcomed engagement and does a great deal to communicate the house’s materiality to passers-by. The tapered roofline is another highlight here, which floats intentionally over the concrete easement wall. It adds robustness and also a touch of softness to the nearly brutal aesthetic presentation. As a result, the house bed more easily blends into its domestic geographical context.

Landscaped courtyards give a sense of eerie height, but the sheer hangaar-like openness of the space contradicts this. And that contradiction enriches the visual element of the Cove House, at once a privacy haven and delicate invitation to come in. It’s a house that tries to redefine the meaning of habitat in the context of people who live inside this habitat and those who’d like to jump inside it.

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Photos courtesy of Justin Humphrey Architect

July 1, 2019 / Comments Off

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Yorebridge House

The Yorebridge House sits in Bainbridge, North Yorkshire as a vacation heaven if in your next sojourn you plan to chart the quaint English county. This boutique hotel is so beautiful it’s a crime to stay in it just for the weekend.

The picturesque countryside and two rivers envelope this homey mansion. This was a dream project of the owners, David & Charlotte Reilly. They wanted to convert the residence into a five-star luxury hotel and restaurant, and the result, as you can see, is nothing short of fantastic.

The Reillys harnessed their artistic prowess and drew from Japanese culture to inject into the space an oriental vibe. Outside, the Yorebridge House looks like a run of the mill county house in this part of England. But inside you’ll find yourself amidst this supremely tasteful ambiance. To say it resembles a home away from home is an understatement.

The Yorebridge House holds five twelve bedrooms. The property is also Victorian Grade II-listed, if you’re into that sort of stuff. And if you’re a history buff, you’ll love that it used to shelter students studying grammar. Is there anything more posh, as they say, than that? The restaurant features menus from head chef Dan Shotton.

David says of the Yorebridge House:

“We are very much looking forward to being part of the Pride of Britain family. It will be wonderful to not only enjoy the company of Pride of Britain guests, but also to meet and share experiences with other members from all the wonderful and inspiring establishments from across the country.”

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Photos courtesy of Yorebridge House

July 1, 2019 / Comments Off

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Zaha Hadid Manhattan Penthouse

Zaha Hadid’s only penthouse in Manhattan is for grabs. If you’re wealthy enough, you can snap up this gorgeous three-level New York City home, which The Queen of Curves designed herself.

The Zaha Hadid Manhattan Penthouse features 11,000 square-feet of space. It sits atop the 39-unit 520 West 28th St. building in New York’s West Chelsea district. Among its key highlights is a wrap-around 3,892 square-feet rooftop terrace. Says the Corcoran Group listing, this is big enough to invite 100 friends over. They can sip cocktails while enjoying breathtaking views of the Chelsea skyline. Not to mention the Empire State Building as well as the High Line and Hudson Yards.

The penthouse, finished four years ago, boasts an abundance of picture windows that let an enormous amount of natural light in. Hadid’s signature curves snake around the entire space. From the unique bathroom to the study windows to the curved glass of the rooftop atrium, Hadid’s handiwork is irrepressible.

Two penthouses actually make up the entire space, and a centerpiece spiraling staircase connects them. The middle level features a 1,900-square-foot room with floor-to-ceiling glass walls on three sides, a private balcony, and a fireplace. There’s also a separate library and media room if you want to decompress. This floor also boasts en suite bedrooms.

With $10 million shaved off the asking price, this Zaha Hadid Manhattan Penthouse is on the market for just $48.75 million. Yes, that’s astronomical, yet still not that unusual for a home in New York City. See more photos of the space below.

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Photos courtesy of Corcoran

June 20, 2019 / Comments Off

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Rosario House

The Rosario House, as the name suggests, is a residence, built specifically for a family seeking solace by virtue of plant cultivation. Set in Ocuilán, Mexico, it comprises of four individual cubes connected via open-air circulation. Each feature a different height and width, and thus assumes an identity unique from its siblings. Large wooden openings serve as the glue that binds these cubes together.

A family of three lives here, and their dedication to plant cultivation is apparent in the design of their home. The architects made sure to emphasize the surrounding nature through openings toward the trees and magenta flowers of the bougainvillea. Since the house features four very disparate cubes, the designers sought to integrate all of them by virtue of a constant relationship. Here, that means various passages that evince a synergy without crowding the structures.

There’s a gravel lawn, and to get to it, you have to go through the wooden screens featured in each cube. When closed, the doors offer a boundary between rooms. But when opened, the interiors are allowed to spill outward, while also welcoming the outside in. It’s a delicate balance that prioritizes transformation instead of conventional definitions of shelter. Here you have a dwelling that recontextualizes the essence of space. As something that separates one plot from another, it succeeds. In the same vein, Rosario House makes sure to corrode the very notion of boundaries and find a way to stitch up the individual parts.

That’s a true achievement. Talk to any architect about broken space and they’ll tell you how difficult it is to connect them organically. Check out more photos below.

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Photos courtesy of Moz & Oscar Hernández and Rojkind Arquitectos

June 13, 2019 / Comments Off

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Dogtrot House

Dogtrot Houses, also referred to as breezeway houses, were most popular during the 19th and early 20th centuries, in the Southeastern part of the United States. Here, it receives a splash of modern.

We head to the American West, against a vast panorama of snow-capped peaks, to reach Carney Logan Burke Architects’ Dogtrot House, a residence designed for a retired couple.

Jackson Hole, in Wyoming, is famous for its scenic landscapes, more so for world-class ski spots. This home sits in some kind of overlap between those, in a rural neighborhood with flat, grassy sites. Buttes and ranchland about, and within view is Mount Glory, tall and formidable, just in the distance.

The Dogtrot House shelters a retired Pittsburgh couple who frequented Jackson. The residence is simple but modern, with a long, low-slung volume topped with an asymmetrical gabled roof. There’s also a detached garage, a potting shed, and a handful of terraces.

The exterior spaces run abundant with oxidised steel, which accentuates the home but helps it assimilate into its agrarian surroundings. There’s liberal use of glass to allow natural light in and envelop the interior with scenic glimpses of the outdoors.

The house redefines what it means to retire. You don’t have to be shacked up in a lonely hospice brimming in drabness. There’s solace, comfort, and allure after the ramshackle, frenzied world of labor.

Inside, everything is primed for relaxation. There’s steel, yes, which at first makes the home seem scarier than it actually us. But other materials dial that down, including larch wood and other earthy surfaces. Color is minimal, but thoughtful. The firm placed them taking care to complement the house’s neutral palette, not fight it.

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Photos courtesy of CLB

June 13, 2019 / Comments Off

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The Sopranos House Hits The Market

Tony Soprano’s house in the seminal HBO classic The Sopranos is now on the market. Just in case you’re on the prowl for a lavish property pre-owned by a fictional Mafia family.

With a starting price of $3.4 million, it’s one of the priciest homes you’ll stumble upon in New Jersey. But the space’s pretty nice, though: you get a 5,600-square-foot home that spent considerable screen time sheltering the Soprano family during the previous Golden Age of TV.

The owners are Patti and Victor Recchia. The house rests on a 1.5-acre lot. The purchase includes the main house with four bedrooms, four full bathrooms, and a powder room to boot. There are two two-car garages, by the way. And there’s one detached one-bedroom guest house as well. Property taxes are $34,005 a year, it’s worth noting.

Again, this is expensive for New Jersey, where you can look at comparable homes that sell between just $1.5 million and $2 million. But Victor the price can’t quantify this house’s true value.

“Those things can be quantified,” he said, “but I don’t think you can quantify the intrinsic value of this home.”

The house was a frequent filming location and the inspiration for a painstakingly modeled replica of the interiors at the Silvercup Studios in New York. but scenes from the pilot episode actually occured the home’s kitchen, where viewers first met Carmela, Tony’s wife, and their children, A.J. and Meadow.

The home has since undergone some cosmetic change-ups, but remains aesthetically similar to what audiences watched several years ago.

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June 5, 2019 / Comments Off

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The Bridge House

From the same folks that built a vinf on the bater, this Bridge House hovers above a small river on a farm. Don’t take the placement a precarious choice, though. This thing can apparently withstand harsh winters. It’s in Russia, too, and we all know how intimidating winters are there.

According to BIO-architects, the firm who designed this quaint piece, it took them only one look at the area to decide on a house that spans the river. They prefabricated the Bridge House nearby and delivered it to the site for assembly.

It features mostly wooden, with its main structure heavily reliant on the material. But it’s also got plenty of glazing. As the name suggests, it doubles as a bridge, which means it provides access to either sides of the riverbank. Yes, the owners can actually enter one side and emerge on the other, thereby crossing the river. Pretty neat idea.

Inside, there’s 150 square meters of space, but that’s mostly taken up by a spacious kitchen and dining area. There’s also a minimalistic but still lavish living room set-up with chic seating. And a piano, to boot, probably for entertainment purposes.

Elsewhere you’ll find a loft bedroom above the kitchen entered via a ladder. There are also a couple more bedrooms on the ground floor, one of which boasts its own tiny kitchen. There are two bathrooms, plus a partially covered deck outside.

The whole house features generous helpings of insulation, so much so that you won’t need any heating even when it’s as low as -15 degrees Celsius outside.

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Photos courtesy of BIO-architects

June 3, 2019 / Comments Off

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Redstone House

The Redstone House is a 1,000-square meter hotel in Baotou in Inner Mongolia, notable for sitting on a barren hill the victim of a terrible mining operation. The owner, a local forest farmer, owns it, and wants to use the building as a space for his “slow life.”

But pretty soon he couldn’t keep it to himself. Slowly, the Redstone House became a popular place for locals, most of them young, who went there for communal safety and solace.

The concept behind the space is very simple. Borrowing heavily from the natural environment, the main function spaces hew from Chinese corridor designs. In effect, there are three sets of function boxes with different numbers of boxes in each set. These allow for complex and orderly connections within the entire space.

The first set of boxes house the bedrooms. A second set, on the other hands, hosts entertainment activities. The final one is reserved for dining, for which there are two boxes. There’s also an independent public box, which provides the entrance. All these boxes vary in height, size, and dimensions, giving them a maze-like, labyrinthine feel.

Still, there’s a sense of openness despite the heavy use of isolation. Key to this transparency are the glass-laden corridors throughout the entire space. Which in turn also highlights the strong contrast between different materials. There’s rough stone, then there’s glass, plus the brutalist concrete ceiling. These give off a rudimentary vibe, but in a delicate way that doesn’t suggest an unfinished space.

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Photos courtesy of Zhi Xia and Atelier 100s+1

May 31, 2019 / Comments Off

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Maitenes House

If you by any chance are in Puerto Montt, Chile, put the Maitenes House in your stops. This hilltop Patagonian dwelling offers views of the nearby Calbuco Volcano. But off somewhere nearby as well is Lake Llanquihue, making this house the epicenter of natural elements.

The designers immediately reigned that dichotomy to their advantage. They developed the space first by considering the topography and the views, plus the information regarding the weather, rain, temperatures, and more acute things like wind predominance. They also took into account the angles of the incidence of the sun in the area’s latitude, which helped them come up with the perfect orientation.

The result is a space that minimizes exposure to the direction of winter rains. One that stimulates cross ventilation for times of higher temperatures. And perhaps most importantly, a space that lets as much light in as possible without drowning it.

Standing on corrugated steel panels, the upper level’s opaque facade is a contrast to the bottom’s array of floor-to-ceiling halls. It offers privacy for the sleeping quarters, while the utter transparency of the ground floor makes for unbeatable views of the enveloping landscape. Pine and cypress pillars dot the space abundantly, with glazing on the windows, to boot.

The result is a space that seeks natural elements to convey the essence of space. One that’s obsessed but careful and gentle about the ways in which nature flows inside and out. Take the lake and volcano outside. Those are symbolic of a synergy that mustn’t go together but in some way or another does.

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Photos courtesy of ICA

May 27, 2019 / Comments Off

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Swiss Miss House

This Swiss Miss House wows with an A-frame roof. Care of renowned architect Charles DuBois, the residence looks perhaps the most unique in its mountain neighborhood. The six-bedroom mid-century property features floor-to-ceiling windows and a touch of monolithic walling in the exterior.

It’s yours for $3 million if you want it. If you’re a fan of double-height living rooms, consider it money well spent. The spacious living area comes with a stone fireplace and tongue-and-groove ceilings. It all comes together care of the teak cabinetry, evoking the spirit of Palm Springs.

The chalet-esque bungalow also has a gourmet kitchen, and outdoor boom-a-rang bar, dual tanning shelves, among other inspired polishes and touches. Outside, there’s a pool. Perfect for raging summers.

The house sits in the highly opulent neighborhood of Vista Las Palmas. The place, in case you didn’t know, served as the home base of Hollywood’s biggest stars during the 1950s. The Swiss Miss House is, similarly, a star among many in the area. Its A-frame is a highlight among a handful of whiz-bang details.

Inside, the Polynesian design bleeds all throughout the space, and sharing that vibe are the subtle tropical flourishes. It’s an interesting contrast: an island atmosphere right in the middle of the harrowing desert. It’s like a summer vacation country club, but Charles DuBois-chic. Check out more photos below to get a sense of how deftly warm and cozy the place is. If only Mad Men had shot in this place during its California era.

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Photos courtesy of Sotheby’s

May 27, 2019 / Comments Off

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