When we think of vacation homes, many of us immediately picture a beachfront property that takes advantage of the ocean and all its breathtaking views. But one new vacation home in the Mexican state of Jalisco is located more inland, instead taking advantage of a natural woodland setting and all its towering pine trees. The house, officially called “Casa EC,” is located near the city of Guadalajara and is organized around a central courtyard, in which many of the trees that were originally located on the site still sit. The house is made up of five stepped and terraced volumes, all of which respond to the natural contours of the site and enclose private spaces through their arrangement.

Designed by Mexican firm AM30 Taller de Arquitectura in collaboration with Stephane Arriola, Casa EC is an imposing structure, appearing almost castle-like with its high stone walls and restrained openings for windows and doorways. This external treatment unifies the various volumes of the house, each of which responds directly to the particular needs of the brief. Some of the volumes contain guest rooms, while others provide private living areas for the family to occupy. Still, each volume has access to all the others via the shared courtyard. The design team elaborated on this, saying: “A terraced courtyard functions as a central plaza linking the front and back of the plot, as well as creating a space for interaction between the main house and the guest rooms.?
The mai...