Spiraling up and around a lush hill in Santa Theresa, the site-specific design of this seven bedroom retreat traces the existing topography while crowning the site with a celebratory garden.

Guests arrive from the North side and park their car or surfboard under the building at the lowest elevation. As they ascend the hilltop, they are welcomed by breathtaking 360º views of the rainforest and the ocean on the horizon. This ‘wow moment’ reveals a harmonious relationship between social gathering and private intimacy. Famous Pacific Coast sunsets are framed to the West from the infinity pool, visually connecting house to beach.

The highest point of the property is about a half meter above the cast-in-place concrete floors of the social areas. Guests descend from an expansive open kitchen and various lounges, followed by shared amenities such as a spa, sauna, and gym, to private bedrooms each with their own balconies and bathrooms. A passage between two bedrooms on the South side of the house frames the North Star that becomes visible at night.

The natural slope of the hill at this entrance is 9º which is perfectly in line with Polaris - which is 9º above the horizon line due to the sites location on the northern hemisphere. Exiting the courtyard, natural paths lead to communal gathering spaces and a yoga platform en route to the beach. The landscape itself determines the shape of the house, creating a cohesive relationship between built and unbuilt, between guests and the nature that surrounds them. What makes the project unique is its site-responsive design: as nothing in nature is the same, the project becomes unreplicable, tailored to its place and serving its inhabitants.