a first look at our upcoming guest villas

Now that you know some background about me and about the land, let’s talk about what it is we’re actually building, AKA where you’ll sleep when you come to visit.

Currently our only on-site housing option is Casa Producto Minimo Viable, also known as a 2-person tent with a canopy over it. But don’t worry, you won’t be sleeping in a tent (unless you want to)

For the past year or so, my brain has been obsessed with designing the perfect guest cabin. My husband JP and I have both traveled extensively and stayed in more hotels, houses, Airbnbs, apartments, cabins, cabinas, villas, tents, and treehouses than I can count, and I put all of that field research into designing a damn near perfect guest house (if I do say so myself). 

From the beginning, our highest priority was sustainability. We were thrilled to partner with Vince Studio, a Costa Rican architecture firm that specializes in regenerative architecture and sustainable design. Right away, the team at Vince understood our vision for a space that feels private yet open to nature, suitable for digital nomads and longer stays but with the look and feel of a luxurious vacation rental. And, I gotta say, they nailed it.

3D model of our gorgeous upcoming guest villas. Image courtesy of Vince Studio.

A slightly outdated version of the guest villa floorplan; we’ve since moved the laundry to the side of the building with the bathroom, which you can see in the 3D image above. Image courtesy of Vince Studio.

In the long term, our retreat center may have beds for upwards of 40 people (I want to host weddings eventually) but to start out, we’re building two mirror image 1-bed/1-bath guest villas. Each villa is about 600 square feet and includes a full kitchen, indoor/outdoor living space, an office, and laundry facilities, as well as a bedroom with a king-sized bed, walk-in closet, and ensuite bathroom.

3D model of the interior of the villa kitchen. Image courtesy of Vince Studio.

3D model of the interior of the villa bedroom, showing bedroom terrace and door to the ensuite bathroom. Image courtesy of Vince Studio.

I’m most proud of the bathroom, which is my original design. As much as I love Costa Rica, the country has an absolutely terrifying bathroom scene where privacy & comfort are in short supply but suspicious toilets and “murder showers” abound. I’m determined to buck that trend. My bathroom design includes a toilet in its own separate space with floor-to-ceiling door and walls to ensure privacy even when your significant other is in the shower. We’re putting in two sinks with enough counter space and storage to accommodate couples. And then there’s my dream shower: Two contiguous showers, one indoor and one outdoor, separated by a wooden slat outer wall that opens like a door to create one giant indoor/outdoor shower space. The outdoor portion of the shower is on the bedroom terrace, creating a romantic flow between bed and bath in the master suite. And because sustainable design is all about multi-use, it can also be used as a regular outdoor shower for washing off sand & dirt before going inside.

3D model of the north guest villa, showing the indoor/outdoor shower with slat door on the far left. Image courtesy of VInce Studio.

Here’s what our friends at Vince have to say about the villa design.

“The roofs are divided to break with linearity and give the sensation of floating above the clean and pure volumes that enclose the houses. These long roof structures create shade and comfort and appear as independent elements over the terraces as they have no structural connection…The two guest houses rotate according to the edge of the land, between the flattest part and the slope, so that the terraces hang over the jungle. As the volumes are rotated, various openings are generated in the walls that provide transparency and maximize access to light and natural ventilation.

This is a biophilic project that creates a sensation being within nature, each space provides tranquility and well-being thanks to a conscious observation of the environment and the application of a bioclimatic design.

As it grows towards a second stage, the project will have a solid guide and identity that will give us the guarantee of a better future, in a place that cares and respects the biodiversity of Costa Rica.”

3D model of the north guest villa. Note the bioclimatic floating roof and terrace that hangs over the jungle. Image courtesy of Vince Studio.

My favorite thing about the villas is how they challenge our conventional notion of privacy. Having a space that feels safe and private, both physically and psychologically, is essential for facilitating the kind of transformative healing work we hope to do at the retreat center. In a conventional home, we create privacy with walls that enclose us in a human-made environment. But in our villas, the walls are open to nature and privacy is created instead by the surrounding jungle. The line between what is inside and outside, private and public, is pushed beyond the boundary of the physical structure so that the rainforest is included in the private space even as it serves as the barrier to the outside public world. In other words, the sense of privacy comes not from hiding behind walls but from hiding inside the rainforest.

…It might be hard to understand what I mean from the 3D model images of the villas, which don’t include landscaping because then you wouldn’t be able to see the villas. The actual structures will be surrounded by tropical landscaping such as bamboo groves and fruit trees to hide the villas in the jungle and maintain visual privacy. 

The future site of Villa Secreta Norte

Because the guest villas are hidden away so you’ll never find them if you don’t already know they’re there, we’re calling them Villas Secretas, or individually, Villa Secreta Norte and Villa Secreta Sur.

One version of the master site plan, showing rainwater collection & management. Created by Fabian VillaMichel as part of JP’s permaculture design certification course through Ecoversity.

In a future post, I’ll talk more about the master site plan, which includes a lot of permaculture principles and a dope ass sacred space with a raised forest boardwalk overlooking the valley where we can host events, classes, and weddings. In the meantime, we’re on track to break ground on Villas Secretas in early 2023 and hope to have both cabins ready for guests that summer. Stay tuned!

Pura vida,

-Chaplain Emily

One of my first concept sketches for a guest cabin. Our friends at Vince Studio gave it quite the glow up!