Located in Guarujá, São Paulo, on a steeply sloping plot overlooking the sea, ES House is a private residence by Jacobsen Studio that asks how architecture can occupy an extraordinary landscape while leaving the lightest possible footprint.
Rather than excavating the forested site, the house is elevated on a dendriform structure that supports the main volume at only two points, minimizing contact with the ground and preserving the Atlantic Forest beneath. New trees were planted to further camouflage the residence within the existing canopy, so the house feels less constructed than discovered.
The layout unfolds across levels that follow the pronounced relief. Entry at street level arrives at a roof garden with a fire pit and timber deck. A first flight of stairs descends past a reflecting pool to the double-height living level, where the living room, dining room, and gourmet veranda form one continuous space beneath a Glulam roof, opened to the sea horizon through floor-to-ceiling glass. An internal garden separates the living and dining areas, pulling greenery into the heart of the home, and the pool extends from the living space into the forest. The bedrooms sit below at treetop level, alongside a deck-level contemplation space the clients consider the most special in the house.
Inside, hand-cut stone, freijó wood, and warm, earthy textures mirror the surrounding forest, a material palette designed to age with the landscape rather than against it. The result is a light, informal house designed for welcoming, socializing, and contemplating, with the view and the landscape always at its center.
