Amid the greenery, country house fragments into independent bungalows traduzido por: OPENROUTER

Located in a gated community in Araras, a district of Petrópolis, in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro, this country house of 1,300 m² was designed to establish a direct and continuous relationship with the surrounding natural landscape. The architecture favors large open spans, wide frames with full opening, and the predominant use of natural materials, such as wood and stone, which blur the boundaries between interior and exterior and give the residence a welcoming and timeless atmosphere. The owners' desire for an essentially single-story house guided the architectural concept, resulting in volumes that gently fragment across the terrain and evoke the feeling of independent bungalows.

Projeto de Escala Arquitetura. (Juliano Colodeti, do MCA Estúdio/CASACOR)

Signed by architects Carolina Escada and Patrícia Landau, who lead the Escala Arquitetura office (and part of the CASACOR Rio de Janeiro lineup), the project was developed for the couple Simone Rodrigues — engineer and owner of S. Rodrigues Engenharia — and Iran Coelho, economist. The couple's daughter, Isabela Coelho, an architect, also actively participated in the process as a project collaborator. "Our relationship with Simone began about 15 years ago, through a recurring partnership on construction projects, and over time, it also turned into a friendship," the architects share.

Projeto de Escala Arquitetura. (Juliano Colodeti, do MCA Estúdio/CASACOR)

Built on a narrow lot with a steep slope, the residence was constructed from scratch over four years, including design, approvals, construction, and the finishing of the décor. The challenging topography was decisive in organizing the architectural program, which is structured in a modular and contemporary way across three independent buildings, connected by wide corridors.

Projeto de Escala Arquitetura. (Juliano Colodeti, do MCA Estúdio/CASACOR)

The first module houses a TV room, kitchen, and service area; the second brings together the living spaces, with living and dining rooms integrated with the veranda with a barbecue area; and the third concentrates the private wing, made up of six suites that reinforce the reading of autonomous volumes.

Projeto de Escala Arquitetura. (Juliano Colodeti, do MCA Estúdio/CASACOR)

The slope of the lot also allowed for the creation of a lower level dedicated to leisure and well-being, where a lounge with bar, gym, sauna, hot tub, and a chapel are distributed. The placement of the house also gave rise to a wide grassy slab, a solution that optimizes the use of the steep terrain and creates a generous outdoor area, marked by the poolwith an organic design and infinity edge, positioned as a lookout over the mountain landscape and in direct relation to the living projects.

Projeto de Escala Arquitetura. (Juliano Colodeti, do MCA Estúdio/CASACOR)

The project's concept is anchored in the creation of welcoming spaces, an essential characteristic of a country house, translated through the consistent use of natural materials. Wood and stone appear in the finishes, furniture, and custom-designed cabinetry, executed in peroba-mica and peroba-do-campo woods. The slatted ceiling in cumaru wood, the reclaimed wood floors in the private wing, the rustic granite in the wet areas, the São Tomé stone chips in the internal living areas and outdoor spaces, as well as the wood-look stone on some walls, reinforce the rustic-contemporary character of the residence.

Projeto de Escala Arquitetura. (Juliano Colodeti, do MCA Estúdio/CASACOR)

The color palette follows the same logic, based on natural tones and subtle earthy accents of green, mustard, and terracotta. The Brazilian identity of the project is completed in the furniture curation, which blends pieces signed by renowned names of national design — such as Bernardo Figueiredo, Jorge Zalszupin, Jean Gillon, and Aristeu Pires — with sourced furniture, reclaimed items, vintage pieces, and objects brought from the resident's travels.

Projeto de Escala Arquitetura. (Juliano Colodeti, do MCA Estúdio/CASACOR)

“The biggest challenge of this project was the narrow lot with a steep slope, which required bold structural solutions to make the proposal of a house with a sense of linearity feasible,” concludes architect Patrícia Landau.

traduzido por: OPENROUTER