Eight of Mexico’s most stunning modern homes

3. Rain Harvest Home, co-designed by Javier Sanchez Arquitectura and Robert Hutchison Architecture

This is the porch of a family-owned bolthole in Valle de Bravo, a popular holiday destination for inhabitants of Mexico City, completed in 2020. Rainwater is harvested in this space, which contains a bathhouse, plunge pool under a skylight, steam shower and a sauna running off solar power. While blurring any division between indoors and out, this room provides shelter – vital in Mexico where it rains heavily from June to October. “It’s an experimental house,” Javier Sanchez, one of the practice’s architects, tells the BBC. “It’s rare to construct houses in wood in Mexico.” The walls and roof are made of pine. Sanchez adds that ferns and an oak tree were planted here “in homage to a forest that existed here before”.

(Credit: Richard Powers/ Courtesy of Rizzoli New York)

Richard Powers/ Courtesy of Rizzoli New York (Credit: Richard Powers/ Courtesy of Rizzoli New York) — (Credit: Richard Powers/ Courtesy of Rizzoli New York)

4. Casa de Tierra-Catarina by Taller Héctor Barroso

The outdoor terrace of Casa de Tierra-Catarina is designed to harmonise with its rural, lakeside setting. The house’s interior was created by Mexican design studio Habitación 116. Barroso is interested in traditional construction methods and materials. This house is made of rammed earth, while its wooden roof provides shelter from scorching sunlight and rain alike. Volcanic stone fire pits keep the occupants, and their guests, warm in the evenings in the winter months. Héctor Barroso tells the BBC: “In winter in Mexico it’s sunny most days, so the terrace is also a great place to hang out.”

5. Casa Izar by Alonso de Garay of Taller ADG

This is the main living room in Casa Izar, a new-build home designed by Taller ADG. The house was inspired by local mountain cabins with pitched roofs and deep eaves. The expansive window draws the eye to an idyllic view of trees, a lake and mountains. The interior, designed by Estudio MDB, celebrates local crafts and materials: its coffee table and a swimming pool outside are made of a volcanic rock. Its ceramics, fashioned from black clay (“barro negro“) found in the southeastern state of Oaxaca, were made by Mexico City-based design studio David Pompa.

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