Project story · Somewhere in the World
A roof that floats over a cove
Villa Eudora is a low timber roof, a stone court and an infinity pool set into a pine-covered rocky cove, so that swimming and the sea become one view.
By byJOOM · Villa Eudora · Residential
A retreat by the sea
The villa is a private retreat by the sea. Its parts are few and clearly named: a stone entrance court, a long open living pavilion, a pool that reaches out over the water and a landing for a boat. The brief is simple, and the design keeps it simple, which is why the cove stays the main event.
A long, thin roof
A long, thin timber roof floats over glass and stone, and it is kept low so that the pine-covered slope stays in view. From the water, the roof is a single dark line laid across the stone, and above it the trees continue as if the building were not there. The restraint is the whole design: nothing rises higher than it has to.
A stone court to arrive in
Arrival is through a court of stone, among olive-coloured planting and low stone walls. The paving is pale, the walls follow the slope and the roof's underside is lined in timber, so that you move from sun into the shaded pavilion without noticing a threshold. Through the living room, the sea is already visible.
A pool that reaches over the water
The pool edge cantilevers over the clear water, so swimming and the sea become one view. In the aerial picture the pool is a clean rectangle of turquoise that continues the colour of the cove, with a boat landing beside it. It is the most daring gesture of the scheme and also the quietest one, because it makes the building disappear into the water it sits beside.
Stone, timber and planting from the site, and a building that stays low and quiet in its landscape.
Stone, timber and planting from the site
The materials come from the place. Stone, timber and planting from the site tie the villa to its cove, and the planting at the entrance court is the same scrubby greenery that grows on the rocks beyond. A building made of what is around it needs no camouflage.
Low and quiet
The design stays low and quiet in its landscape, and that is the reason to expect it to age well. A building that does not compete with a cove has nothing to lose when fashions change.
This article describes design intention. The images are design visualisations, not photographs of a finished building. See the Disclaimers.