Within a landscape of palm trees and farmland, Casa Neblina is born. It takes its name from the salty humidity that condenses over the landscape and the house in the mornings, offering a breath of freshness before the desert heat arrives.
A single-volume structure, this retreat was designed for an Australian-Mexican couple in El Pescadero. They were drawn to this quiet coastal town for its relaxed lifestyle, surrounded by nature and the fresh winds of the Pacific Ocean.
This one-story house, spanning only 114 m² with two bedrooms, is set on a 2,000 m² plot. Its main façade is enclosed, creating an air of mystery, with an opening at the top that acts as a portal. A staircase, partially shielded by a brick screen, leads to the rooftop. The use of brick in this screen serves as a reminder of the nearly extinct traditional materials from the Todos Santos region of Baja California Sur.
On the other side, Casa Neblina opens up to the natural landscape, featuring an extensive garden and an orchard that Alyssa and Irving have cultivated since they first moved in. This façade transforms into terraces, forming the home's social area, seamlessly connected to the kitchen and living space.
The house is monolithic in form, unified in a single color and material: beige-pigmented chukum, making it appear as a rocky element within the landscape. The use of skylights in both social and private spaces fosters a constant sensory experience—blurring the boundaries between indoors and outdoors, allowing the landscape and sky to merge with the home’s interior. It feels like being protected by the clouds.
The owners designed and built the house’s carpentry themselves, adding a personal touch to every detail. They created a space that reflects their unique style by crafting custom elements, making the home feel authentic and meaningful.
Irving and Alyssa photographed the house in its daily life—not as an isolated sculpture, but as an interconnected space where indoor and outdoor living blend seamlessly. Through their cultivated landscape, they established a deep relationship with the land and the community.
Alyssa is of Australian origin and Irving is Mexican. They met in Canada, where they traveled in a van equipped by themselves from Canada to Baja California Sur, Mexico. The pandemic caught them just there, and being in Baja California Sur, they fell in love with Todos Santos, a place located between Cabo San Lucas and La Paz, facing the Pacific Ocean and with a very special energy. It has few inhabitants, and its characteristic is the brick architecture, with areas of orchards and a strong fishing culture.
The identity of Todos Santos, Baja California Sur, has been deteriorated by the construction of concrete blocks, and in this project, we try to rescue the use of brick latticework as a way to remember the identity of this beautiful place.
Another situation that should be highlighted is that the land where the house is located was contaminated with black plastic bags, often used in farms, which were completely removed and now hosts a beautiful landscape with various species, fruit trees, desert plants, and groundcovers, recovering the ecosystem and bringing back the native fauna of the desert.
