Set within the untamed coastline of Baja’s East Cape, this surf-in surf-out retreat is quietly embedded into the bouldered terrain along the Pacific Ocean. Designed for elemental living, it blurs the line between shelter and landscape, offering open-air spaces, sweeping views, and direct access to the ocean below.
The architecture recedes from view, allowing the rhythms of wind, tide, and sun to take center stage.
Project
Terra03
Location
East Cape, Baja California Sur MX
Year
04/2024
Design Principal
Kory Forde
Anchored between a natural break in the boulders, this two-bedroom home is embedded into the sloped terrain of the East Cape. Its geometry stands in quiet contrast to the surrounding rock—deliberately built, yet shaped in response to the forms around it. Two distinct volumes step with the hillside, divided by an open-air passageway that frames a direct view to the sea. From the approach above, the structure feels grounded and restrained, its presence defined by material rather than mass. Locally sourced brick, rammed earth walls, sandstone-textured concrete, and a roof of aged steel echo the tones and textures of the harsh landscape.
A split in the plan separates the two sleeping spaces, forming an open-air breezeway that channels movement outdoors. This passage—open to the sky and lined with planted voids—becomes the central gesture of the house, where interior and landscape interlace. Within, the rooms are pared down and tactile: thick brick walls offer weight and shade, built-in elements anchor the spaces, and framed openings reveal the surrounding terrain in quiet intervals. The architecture resists excess, favoring stillness, texture, and the slow unfolding of space.
Rooted in place and shaped by restraint, the home is designed to weather, to breathe, and to endure. Throughout, the architecture defers to nature: form follows the land’s original contours, finishes echo the surrounding rock, and native vegetation is left largely untouched. It invites a way of living attuned to the rhythms of the coast—where daily life unfolds between sun and shade, stone and wind. More than a home, it is a quiet inhabitation of the land itself—a place of passage, where the line between human and horizon begins to fade.
Anchored between a natural break in the boulders, this two-bedroom home follows the slope of the East Cape. Its geometry contrasts the rugged terrain, stepping down in two volumes divided by a passage framing the sea. Materials—brick, rammed earth, textured concrete, and aged steel—echo the tones of the surrounding landscape. From above, the structure reads as minimal and grounded; from below, it opens fully to the ocean and horizon beyond.
A split in the plan separates the two sleeping volumes, forming an open-air breezeway that channels movement outdoors and becomes the central gesture of the house. Within, the rooms are pared down and tactile—thick brick walls offer weight and shade, built-in elements anchor the spaces, and framed openings reveal the surrounding terrain in quiet intervals. The architecture resists excess, favoring stillness, texture, and the slow unfolding of space.
Rooted in place and shaped by restraint, the home is designed to weather, to breathe, and to endure. It invites a way of living attuned to the rhythms of the coast—where daily life unfolds between sun and shade, stone and wind. More than a retreat, it is a quiet inhabitation of the land itself.