Casa El Hato. Private residence. Antigua. 650 m2
“I want to live in Antigua,” he said. “But after seeing your work, I want to live in one of your houses. Can you design a colonial home here—modern, but still Antigua?”
And that’s where it began.
This home reimagines the traditional colonial patio by opening it completely to the landscape. Instead of four enclosed walls, the courtyard holds only three — the fourth is the view, stretching across the valley and distant hills.
The architecture is composed of floating concrete planes, open-air rooms, and long horizontal lines that frame nature with precision. Light moves freely through the spaces, guided by deep overhangs, timber ceilings, and the shadows of existing trees woven into the design. The result is a house that feels anchored yet weightless, intimate yet open.
At the heart of the project is the patio, reinterpreted as a sequence of platforms and terraces that extend toward the horizon. Water, stone, and timber define the ground plane, creating a quiet threshold between inside and out. The living and dining areas unfold around this open center, connected by large sliding panels that disappear to create a continuous pavilion.
Materials are kept essential: raw concrete, warm wood, textured stone, and glass that dissolves into the landscape. The architecture avoids imitation; instead, it draws from the spirit of colonial living — courtyards, shade, airflow, and social gathering — but expresses them in a contemporary language.
This home is about living with the view, not beside it.