Situated in the Brazilian town of Porto Feliz, Portuguese for ‘Happy Haven’, the vision for the property was to be a place for the family to socialise and connect away from their daily lives. The layout of the home and the amenities certainly achieves that in with an elegant and creative design.

The architects chose to work with the natural topography of the land, rather than fight against it. By constructing an expansive 3-metre-high stone wall, the plot was divided into two garden levels which the home centres itself around.

From the road, the house appears to be a single-story home. However, as you enter the property the stone wall has acted as a pivot for the house to cantilever over, revealing an open lower level.

It’s within the lower level, the social spaces come to life. A children’s playroom, home cinema, sauna and spa tuck neatly within the stone wall. The design of the open plan living and dining maximises the view of the lake and the connection with the outdoors. Dividing the spaces is an internal garden which leads your eye to an undercover entertaining space outside.

The landscape is restrained and sophisticated with large, square stone pavers broken up by planting and surround the edge of the deep blue pool. Corten planters surrounded the upper level softening the architecture, creating shading for the lower outdoor areas, and bringing interest to the landscape which is largely dominated by lawn.

The design team have created a clever layout which accommodates the needs of a young family and the brief for a holiday home. Throughout the house, the spaces are well connected and the outdoor elements have been woven through.

See more of this stunning weekender and other projects by Jacobsen Arquitetura here.

Landscape Design: Gil Fialho

Photography: Leonardo Finotti