Private Resort Villa
Mexico
Concept
At this private villa, structures in the manner of traditional palapas from the Nayarit coast frame portraits of the Pacific.
Originating more than 2,000 years ago, palapas were traditionally built during the full moon, when the sap of harvested trees — a natural insect repellent — was thought to flow more freely.
The region's architectural history is reinterpreted for the present day with natural materials that appear to vanish into the palm tree-lined coastline.
On a broad expanse of Mexico's western coast, lined with protected mangle trees, a village of palapas scatters among serpentine stone walls and tropical landscaped gardens. Leading to the villa, a grass pathway winds beneath the canopy of a thousand coconut palms.
“What de Reus created is magical.”
– Client
Arriving at a courtyard planted with large banyan trees, the home's plan begins to unfold. The entry experience is one of measured symmetry, brought down to earth with organic forms and natural finishes — hand-chiseled textured stone, pools with rock formations, and natural mahogany trunks still wrapped in the strangler vines from their past lives in the wild. Just beyond the end of a long covered portico, the horizon line of the ocean makes its first appearance.
The compound's center of gravity is the main living palapa, where a formal pool is embedded with half-submerged limestone piers that recall stones used in ancient temples. The rectilinear pool is adjoined by an undulating water feature that follows the curvature of the beach. This private family retreat contrasts the ancient with the contemporary, organic with structured, and playful with elegant in fine-tuned artistic tension.
Services
Architecture, Interior Architecture, Landscape Architecture
Team
Juan Montoya Design Corp. (Interior Design), Martel Construction (Builder), Eric Piasecki, Petr Myska (Photographers)