High on Peninsula Papagayo’s spine, commanding panoramic views of Bahia Huevos, Culebra Bay and the islands freckling the tip of North Papagayo, this thirteen-home enclave anchors itself to steep rocky slopes above the dry tropical forest.
The enclave threads between landmark trees, including the ancient Guanacaste that once guided early horseback travelers. The homes bend and weave through the forest, keeping the landscape foremost and preserving as many of the rock outcroppings and trees as possible.
Though they appear to hover above the terrain, the 4–5-bedroom villas and their swimming pools are sited to meld with the land. The line between site and architecture blurs until it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. Seen from above, the sweeping compound curvature of the copper roofs becomes an abstraction of the tree canopy. And like roots finding fissures to grip the bedrock, the homes are grounded in earth even as they reach for the sky.
The design process began with a careful cataloging of the ridge’s views, topography and vegetation. The conceptual “kit of parts” was then composed to each individual villa site so that, while the homes share the same program, each one subtly reshapes itself to its place, attuning to shifting vistas, leaning into the land’s contours, and preserving the most eloquent features of the landscape.
Cantilevered decks open to an uninterrupted horizon of ocean, while the undulating roofline softens the force of tropical rain. The indoor-outdoor spirit is augmented by necklace walls of volcanic stone, still used by local farmers, that lend privacy between villas. Garages with dichroic glass doors shift color like petals layered beneath forest trees.
These high design tree houses spilling over the Peninsula’s spine become instruments for experiencing the beauty and immensity of the Guanacaste landscape.
