Architect Natalia Rey began designing this house in Barichara, Colombia, at the spot where today its open-plan kitchen with mountain views is located. “I imagined that my client would prepare his coffee here and enjoy it while looking out over the Serranía de los Yariguies mountains, and that’s exactly how everything turned out,” she says with a laugh. Rey is Colombian, specifically from Bogotá, and runs her own architecture firm. Together with her designers and a local construction team, she has a number of projects in rural Barichara, a small town in the Andes in the northeast of the country. The region consists mostly of tropical dry forest and while livestock farming was once common, it is now a protected area with ongoing reforestation which includes small-scale coffee production. “The area is also a bit steep,” Rey points out.
Undeterred by the challenges, her client wanted an 1,100-square-foot house built on this spot which would allow the nature-loving, climbing-enthusiast “nomad” (to borrow Rey’s description) to escape. (The architect and client first met in a coworking space, far from this remote site.) Just a few metres from the house, which includes two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a pantry, a stream runs past, which eventually feeds into the Paramera waterfall, a local landmark. Water plays a major role in the story of this home’s design. Natalia Rey built the house, named Casa La Palmita, on stilts in order to respect the natural flow of water over the site. It was a challenge but one she would overcome with ease.
A minimalist House with a View of the Mountains
When Rey met with her client she learned he wanted a refuge where he could rest between trips. “My aim was to create a place that embraced him,” says the architect. She wove her own inspiration into it—namely water—which is scarce and thus all the more precious in Colombia. “This place taught me that water has a nature that is all its own. When it rains, it rains heavily, but it can also be very dry for periods. The cycles here change quickly and they are powerful.” To allow the water running over the site to find its way downstream, the house was built on stilts, minimizing its impact on the setting while also allowing the design to respond to the slope of the site.
Natural Plaster, Wattle and Daub, and Old Wooden Beams
Natalia Rey and her team approached the construction of the house always aware of its location. “Building with earth is a tradition in Barichara,” she says. “When I came here over 12 years ago, I learnt about the plaster made from earth, sand, limestone and horse manure. It is typically painted over with white lime, but here we left it in its natural state which conveys a sense of warmth.” First, however, a kind of half-timbered construction was erected with all the walls consisting of a wooden structure filled in with reeds atop which the plaster is applied. This technique is called bahareque (a form of wattle and daub common in parts of South America and the Caribbean). The roof was also constructed using a traditional Colombian method with reed, clay and locally produced tiles. Old exposed wooden beams run through the entire house. “The beams came from the house that originally stood on this site and that we initially wanted to renovate. But during the process, we realised that the damage to its structure was too extensive, and it made more sense to start over,” explains Rey. “In consultation with the client, we demolished the old house but we kept a few elements that were salvageable and integrated them into the new home.”
Colombian Design that Returns to its Roots
For her client and also for Rey, the terrace is the highlight of the house. It allows a direct view of the forests and mountains and even brings the kitchen outside with its covered alcove. “I wanted to give my client the feeling that he was on one of his expeditions. He should always be in contact with the mountains that he loves so much,” Rey says. The house itself, both its interior and exterior, has a strong connection to nature, merging with its surroundings. All the furniture comes from the region around Barichara, with only a few exceptions. The bathtub by Casa Páramo and the handmade tiles by Junita Schlenker come from Colombia’s capital, Bogotá. The cotton curtains were made by the artisans of the Corpolienzo cooperative, and Rey worked with craftsman Jesus Sarmiento on the kitchen and bathroom fixtures and millwork. The lighting, including the oversized rattan shades in the dining and cooking area, were supplied by the Colombian company El Lamparero. The chairs and sofa came from the old house, since demolished, but they blend in just as harmoniously in their new home.
Everything seems to flow effortlessly here, as Rey confirms: “The design is honest, minimalist and simple. I was looking for a timeless appeal and I thought first of those houses that I had lived in during my life where I felt comfortable and secure.” In this way, the architect incorporated elements of different homes, including ones in England and France, where she met her husband, with elements that are typical of rural Colombian vernacular architecture. “We are right at the source here, with unique materials, natural diversity and cultural traditions,” she says. “Colombian design always returns to its roots.”
