Private Villa Resort –  Riviera Nayarit, Mexico

A 19-acre site along a thousand-foot stretch of white coral beach meant our approach had to be structured yet fluid. We wanted to create architecture that would disappear seamlessly into the coastline. We designed a casual, tropical aesthetic where a grasscrete paved entry road winds gently through a nature preserve of one-thousand palms.

Arrival is an event to be celebrated. Impressive hardwood gates open onto a formal stone motor court enclosed by 14-foot stone walls. Visitors climb a half-flight of pyramid-shaped stairs to a colonnaded, thatched-roof portico pointing toward the ocean, sky, and horizon — the reason for visiting the villa.

On the 3-acre garden, we created a village of separate pavilions for arrival, gathering, playing and sleeping. The design sees formal symmetry played against asymmetries. Open spaces and pavilions were arranged and connected with promenades, offering different experiences for every mood. Sometimes axial, sometimes episodic, the promenades introduce a place to enjoy and meander where pavilions and gardens reveal themselves, acting as transitional spaces. Like a traditional home’s anteroom, these outdoor transition spaces lend an air of graciousness. Straight and serpentine walls weave through the site, providing privacy and security while achieving that all-important sense of intimacy for a home built on many acres.