Beach Houses in Chile

 - Jakob Schoof

The two weekend houses designed by Felipe Croxatto and Nicolas Opazo have floor areas of just 20 and 25 metres respectively and stand on a practically impossible site: on the steep coastline of Matanzas, a surfers paradise on the Pacific Ocean, around 120 kilometres to the southwest of Santiago de Chile. The clients were two couples who are friends and who use the houses themselves as well as renting them out to holiday guests. Higher up, on the edge of the slope, a small residential development begins, from there the two tiny new buildings are reached along a dirt road and then down a steep wooden stairs.

Beach Houses in Chile
Erected on tall wooden bases, La Loica and La Tagua stand on the 80-m-high Pacific coast in Matanzas. Their weathered envelope is made from reused railway sleepers. © Cristobal Palma

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