The House

From the beginning, we wanted the house to become part of nature rather than dominate it.

The original home was simple and comfortable, with one bedroom and a compact kitchen opening directly into the living area. But what immediately gave it character were its proportions and craftsmanship. The ceilings throughout are unusually high and vaulted, finished entirely in wood, creating a wonderful sense of warmth and spaciousness overhead.

The windows are equally distinctive. They weren't ordered from a factory or selected from a catalogue. Each was individually handcrafted, with graceful curved tops and fitted screens. Their generous size brings light and air into the rooms while constantly framing the gardens outside.

That relationship between indoors and outdoors became the guiding principle for everything we subsequently did.

In the original living area, we added a raised granite counter that became our everyday eating place. It is where we have breakfast, share meals, drink coffee, talk, and look out at the gardens. It feels informal and natural, which pretty well describes the way we live here.

The previous owner had planned something quite different. He had already constructed foundations for a considerably larger house farther up the mountainside. But his design didn't make sense for the way we wanted to live, and the proposed house would have blocked much of the sunlight reaching the magnificent old mango tree that had already become one of the most important presences on the property.

So the foundations found a better purpose. They became our plant nursery.

For the additional living space we wanted, we created a second structure that continues the character of the original home. A short covered hallway, with large open windows on both sides, connects the two so naturally that from inside there is no awareness that they are technically separate buildings. Light, air, and greenery accompany you from one part of the house to the other.

The addition gave us a large office, two generous walk-in closets, and a spacious bedroom designed with ventilation on all four sides. Fresh mountain air moves naturally through the room, and in Vilcabamba's remarkably gentle climate we have never needed either heating or air-conditioning.

And then there is the bathroom.

We decided that if there were one room in the house where we would indulge ourselves a little, this should be it. So instead of treating it simply as a necessary room adjoining the bedroom, we gave it enough space to become somewhere you actually enjoy spending time.

It is unusually spacious, with a full bathtub as well as a separate walk-in shower, and it shares the same feeling of openness and natural materials found throughout the house. After working in the gardens, hiking the property, or simply reaching the end of the day, there is something wonderfully luxurious about having a bathroom that feels less like a utility and more like a private retreat.

All three windows in our bathroom—including those in the separate toilet and shower—look out to the gardens. Birds come each day to sit on the window sills and sing to us.

The house also includes a large, screened bonus room. It is a wonderfully flexible space as it stands, but it could readily be converted into a third bedroom if a future owner wanted additional sleeping accommodations.

An attached garage provides another surprisingly useful part of everyday life. One entire wall is lined with wooden cabinets, giving us ample storage, and we use part of the space for a freezer and two additional refrigerators—particularly convenient when so much food comes directly from our gardens, fruit trees, and greenhouses.

Over fourteen years we have also quietly added systems that make rural living remarkably comfortable. Because countryside electricity can occasionally fluctuate, we installed a Leviton power conditioner to help protect the house from electrical irregularities before they reach sensitive equipment. Along with our solar power, backup generator, water purification, irrigation, and other systems, it is one of those things we rarely think about because it simply does its job.

But the most important feature of the house isn't any individual room or system.

It is what happens when you open your eyes.

Every window looks into greenery. Fruit trees grow within steps of the house. The vegetable garden is close enough that something chosen for dinner can be picked and carried into the kitchen minutes later. Night-blooming jasmine surrounds the bedroom, and when evening comes its fragrance drifts through the screened windows. Birds provide much of the background conversation.

The gardens don't begin when you walk out the door. In a very real sense, we live inside them.

With 2,256 square feet of living space, the house has been just right for us as an older couple—large enough to give each of us ample personal space, yet intimate enough to remain comfortable, manageable, and easy to live in.

We could have made the house the dominant feature of the property. Instead, we chose to let the land have that honor. After fourteen years, we wouldn't have it any other way.

For us, luxury was never about having a bigger house than we needed. It was about having less between ourselves and the life we came here to experience.