Taller Alberto Calleja's concrete Casa Nova holiday home in Mazunte, Oaxaca

Casa Nova is a holiday home in Mazunte, on Mexico's southern coast in Oaxaca, designed by local studio Taller Alberto Calleja. The site is long and narrow, with only a slim stretch of sea frontage, and the studio's answer was to split the house down the middle with a "fissure" of trees, planting and water that frames the view to the sea. Two skinny trapezoidal volumes in exposed concrete sit either side, with a pair of cubic annexes behind.

The studio calls that central void the "protagonist" of the project. A reflecting pool there works as a gathering and in-between space, crossed by raised timber bridges. Living, dining and kitchen are in the eastern block, bedrooms in the western one. The outer walls are left largely blank, while the angled faces towards the trees open up entirely behind sliding and folding timber screens; their mix of solid panels and angled louvres lets light and air in even when they are shut.

Up top, prow-like roof terraces push south towards the sea, overlooking a swimming pool designed to blend into the horizon. At the back, the two cubes hold bedrooms with their own living spaces, green courtyards and pools, so they can be used independently of the main house.

It's a private home, so one for looking rather than visiting, and a good read for anyone curious about how raw concrete and natural wood can sit easily in a coastal forest.

Our summary of a story from Dezeen, published 7 November 2026. Read the original

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