An open-sided shelter made from railway sleepers provides a stable on the roof of this house by CC Arquitectos, which is partially embedded in a slope overlooking a Mexican valley (+ slideshow).

The 459-square-metre residence named El Mirador House is located on the 95-hectare El Eterno estate in Valle de Bravo ? a forested municipality that wraps one corner of Lake Avándaro, approximately 150 kilometres southwest of Mexico City.

Mexico City-based CC Arquitectos designed the house so that its living areas are sunken down below the level of a road at the back of a plot. This means only the wooden shelter is visible from higher ground.

A stone drinking trough sits at one end of the rooftop structure, which is used as both a garage and as a shelter for horses. Beyond it, a water pool featuring a large sculpture extends out onto the roof of the block below. A low wall made from wooden railway sleepers is intended to conceal cars when the area is used for parking.

"El Mirador is half buried on one of its sides with the purpose of protecting the habitation spaces from the climate where nature, views, and rustic finishes are the main components, seeking as a goal that these characteristics will last through time," explained the studio, which is led by architect Manuel Cervantes Céspedes.

The property's retaining walls are made from local stone, while other parts of the structure are constructed from a combination of steel beams and wooden sleepers...