Project Teahouse

Ten years ago, I discovered & fell in love with a small town in the Pacific coast of Costa Rica

I learned to surf there

My daughters swam her first lap there

And where they started to ride waves

It’s also where I met one of my best friends in the world, Ru

I was lucky enough to have a hand in helping Ru build the best surf school in the world

And Ru constructed a beautiful resort for Surf Simply

After 10 years of looking for the perfect lot, Ru gave me a call and told me he found one. It’s a 4 minute walk to surf.

Bonus is it is literally right beside Ru’s own dream lot

We immediately asked Roberto, the project manager who built the resort, to lead our project. Ru & I are using the same architect, contractor and crew to gain some economies of scale. Plus, it’s more fun to build together

I knew I wanted to build a home that is just enough. A thought & design that prizes humility and austerity and finds beauty in imperfection.

I was always inspired by Casa Wabi, the arts foundation in Oaxaca, Mexico that was designed by one of my heroes, the architect, Tadao Ando

I took a pilgrimage to the art island of Naoshima to see, feel and touch Tadao Ando’s work

I was inspired by Tadao Ando’s pioneering use of concrete form work

Tadao Ando allows his structures to flow and conform to nature

The first designs from the architect were beautiful but just not right. I did not want a house that could be at home in Malibu, Chiba or Singapore. I wanted one that was designed specifically for our town and our land.

I sat in a local restaurant and hand drew the layout of the home I wanted. I grew up in Asia and have always wanted a courtyard home where the soul of the home is right in the middle of it

And I also laid out the 3 ethos of the home: (1) Give me a home that is just enough, (2) That will embrace the imperfections, patina & humility that comes with living in a tropical jungle by the ocean, and (3) Respects the colloquial Tico architecture & way of living with the land.

I was especially inspired by Tadao Ando’s use of Mexico’s traditional paha roof with his signature concrete.

Especially his use of the traditional Mexican paha roof, made out of dried palm leaves which allows air circulation

We finally broke ground

With a clear vision. It’s a courtyard vacation home, inspired by the austerity of Japanese teahouses and Casa Wabi’s use of paha and concrete.

The key to the design is getting a symmetrical, clean, modern roof structure to juxtapose the organically wild palapa roof material

It took us about 4 months to find a supply of locally harvested teak wood that were long enough to run our entire roofline without any breaks. And, we had to allow the teakwood to cure for another 3 months.

It was an incredibly exciting and emotional day when the local craftsmen arrived to put up the first section of the palapa roof

View of the front door from the inside of the rancho

The front door lanai

The courtyard

View to one of the two teahouses which double as bedrooms

The roof came together better than I ever imagined.

The tension between organic & modern, palm & concrete, wood & cement

It’s fascinating and rewarding to see all the micro decisions we made during the design process come to life. From the tiles for the pool to the concrete pathways.

Front door fabricated out of high gauge steel that will be left to patina and rust