Casa del Bosque is located on a corner lot in Fernando de la Mora, Zona Norte, Paraguay and was designed by NDE Renda as a sprawling single level home (except for one very small 2nd storey volume which holds the media room) that sits close leaving as much room as possible for the back yard. To accommodate all the rooms within the home, the architect designed it in an almost hexagonal shape – too deep for windows within every room if the home was a solid hex, however it isn’t. The architects designed the home with a meandering facade that includes triangular and rectangular voids throughout the hexagonal footprint and by doing so they opened the door for creative and daring design details that layer in an artistic expression both inside and out such as the tree that bursts through the roof of the car port.
The carport is designed as a semi enclosed structure surrounded on 3 sides with brick walls. The roof is supported by the two sidewalls and is wide enough to create shelter for the cars below but still leave the rest of the carport open to the sky above. The shelter it provides for the cars is somewhat compromised by the two tree trunks that pierce the roof, even so, kudos to the architects for saving the tree and using it as part of the overall design. Between the tree, the bricks and that awesome steel gate the carport is absolutely stunning.
The brick wall on the right of the carport morphs into a triangular brick wall with a very thin vertical window near its flattened point. The window is designed to let natural light into the storage room within while the window at the deepest part of the outdoor corridor beside it provides natural light for the bar behind the dining area of the home as well as to a powder room.
The corridor has not been forgotten when it comes to architectural and landscape details – even though it is in an almost hidden spot. An island of low grasses spring forth, surrounded by a concrete pad and the brick wall has been highly textured with a geometric stone relief pattern accentuated by the evening lights.
At night the corridor is flooded with light.
Just to the right of the corridor is another strip of low grasses planted in a line to correspond with two trees that divide the space between the carport and the main entrance.
The carport and the entry are on two different sides of the corner lot, and the home stretches diagonally across the triangular shape created between these two entries – this creates the two (not quite straight) lengths of the hexagon.
At night spot lights accentuate the two trees as well as other foliage.
The entry is positioned beneath the only 2-storey section of the home and this 2nd volume is spanned on the front with windows sheltered behind a screen of wood. Next to the entry is what appears to be a continuation of the facade but is in fact a brick privacy wall backed on the other side by one of the two water elements.
The pools create a division between the main house and a pool house and the brick wall provides privacy from the close proximity of the neighbors.
The Pool against the brick wall is positioned where the hexagonal footprint changes from length to one of the 4 side sections. The hex length has a screen of foliage between it and the pool while the side section has two waterfalls spilling forth.
The pool house is located on two sides of the hex and its shape combined with the pool in front forms a pentagon and while not the same shape as the main building’s footprint, the similarities are accentuated by a second tree that appears to pierce the roofline – only there is no roof behind that wall.
The pool house consists of a modern bathroom just to the right of the tree.
The two pools are surrounded by terraces that interconnect with the main outdoor living area positioned under a roof overhang for shade from the intense sun.
An el fresco dining moment is positioned for early morning or starlight enjoyment – under the open sky.
A submerged walkway easily located by a protruding boulder spans the pool and landscape lighting provides safe passage at night.
Additional landscape lighting highlights the foliage against the brick wall and a sculpture within a wall niche.
The outdoor living zone wraps around two sides of the living room within before meeting up with a protruding privacy wall that shelters the social zones from the private zones – both inside and out.
The privacy wall is triangular shaped and incorporates access to and from the kitchen.
The kitchen is designed for serious cooking and whoever the chef is, this must be a dream come true. The triangular shape incorporates two lengths of counter – one for cooking and one for prep while an island holds the cooktop as well as table height seating.
A windowed backsplash on the prep counter pierces the privacy wall for a view towards a garden area positioned in front of one of the bedroom walls.
The bedroom maintains its privacy from the kitchen by having its outdoor access angled away from the brick wall exposed to the view from the kitchen. The triangular shaped deck connects both bedroom outdoor entrances.
The master suite is positioned at the far end of the home, up against a tall privacy fence that wraps the two sides of the backyard. Near the master suite terrace a large mirror is installed on the fence to create visual interest.
With a large mirror on the fence and shallow niches filled with bricks, the fence takes on a creative appearance.
The fence really doesn’t look like a fence and the building behind it is virtually disguised.
The terrace in front of the master suite is a staggered design, which includes a walk in shower with a somewhat frosty view overlooking the two planters.
The headboard wall in the master suite is a creative combination of lit memento niches and a hidden sliding door on the right that leads to one end of the walk in closet as well as to the ensuite.
The sliding door enters to both the vanity area of the washroom as well as one wall of the L shaped closet. The door at the end leads to the walk in shower and the toilet.
The vanity is a beautiful composition of a low cabinet beneath a floating counter that holds two vessel sinks. Adding to the WOW factor is the mosaic wall that rises from the counter to frame two strips of exotic wood that hold the round mirrors – I love it!
As with the rest of Casa del Bosque, NDE Renda did not settle for WOW but took it a step further and added the unexpected, which in this case is the inset wall niche painted red – that makes this vignette a double WOW.
While the vanity shares the wall with the bedhead, the shower and toilet are in their own separate space at the far end of the building, All 5 walls of the shower are different. The floor is wood decking, the ceiling is smooth concrete, the entry is clear glass, the window wall is frosted glass, the shower wall is mosaic tile and the final wall is striated concrete with faux grout lines.
The second part of the L shaped closet is accessed from the bedroom through sliding mirrored panels beside the bed.
The hall that connects the master suite to the rest of the home passes the other two bedrooms on the left. Between the two bedroom entrances are two mid-century style wall niches filled with mementos.
The ensuites to the two bedrooms are back to back and are positioned directly behind the triangular garden between the kitchen and master suite. The wall of the triangular garden is the back wall of the ensuite showers.
While the bedrooms are on one side of the hall, a home gym is on the other. It’s a fun space filled with bright pops of color via the art, beanbag chairs and that potently grape wall. A window at the end of the room offers a view of the tree piercing the carport roof.
A window on the other wall overlooks an inner courtyard.
The courtyard is just past the two bedrooms where the hall angles to the right and it is designed to flood this part of the home with natural light. On one side of the courtyard is the kitchen and straight ahead is the dining room.
Behind the dining room is the living room and between the two areas is a passage that leads to a powder room on one side and stairs to the media room on the other.
The powder room is a modern composition of cantilevered counters and linear mirror with side lights.
The toilet within the powder room is a bold composition of black toilet and wall flanked by two skinny floor to ceiling windows looking into the corridor garden in the front of the house.
The media room is located in the only 2-storey portion of the home, just above the entry. Created in a step configuration, the room can seat up to 15 comfortably and more if need be.
Since Casa del Bosque is designed for entertaining, whether in the media room or the social zones – both indoors and out – NDE Renda made sure to leave enough room in the architecture to install a full bar, which includes a wine cooler
The bar is also fitted with deep open shelves that house a wide array of liqueurs and hard liquors.
What a great space for entertaining.
NDE Renda
Photography by Zenoura
