NATURAL GEOMETRY
Laid-back luxe prevails in this angular architect-designed home in the heart of Chilean wine country – the ideal
location for stylish off-grid living
Although Hawaiian-born marine biologist and entrepreneur Deborah Paskowitz spends most of the year at her house in Santiago, long weekends become even longer during the warmer months, when she decamps to her other home, an hour’s drive away in Chilean wine country. After off-roading to the top of a steep hill, passing wild horses on the way, she is greeted by a glass pavilion with wraparound views across the vineyards of Casablanca. The house has an incredible pool deck and the sort of serenity that can only be found by living off grid. All of the building’s power comes from solar panels: ‘I wanted to avoid having any electrical cables visible around the property,’ Deborah explains. ‘The vineyards below have a kind of natural geometry, so I wanted the house to be mindful of that.’ There’s no air conditioning here either. Instead, most of the glass panels slide open around the perimeter of the house to let breezes flow through the open-plan spaces.
Deborah grew up in a bohemian family of surfers and moved to Chile in the mid-1980s. When it came to this rural retreat, which she had built in 2014, she asked renowned architect Pablo Riquelme to create something that felt at one with the landscape – populated by foxes and olive trees – but that also played on traditional Chilean style. ‘Homes here tend to have a galleria,’ she explains, ‘which is a walkway the length of the house that connects different rooms. Pablo did that here, but had it crafted entirely in glass and concrete.’
To create the look for her home, Deborah worked with interior designer Ximena Tennenbaum, settling on a scheme that is pared-back and bright. Almost every surface is made from pale pine, with the only discernible colour coming from the seafoam green used on some of the doors. ‘I favoured earthy tones everywhere,’ she says, ‘but according to feng shui, when a door faces a certain way, it should be green, and I do really like that particular colour.’
The original plans for the pool deck – which is where most of the entertaining takes place in this mountain home – incorporated a fire pit. Pablo designed one, a perfect sunken circle in the concrete, but it has never actually been used as the risk of forest fires is far too high. Instead, Deborah planted a tree in it, bringing another flash of green to this home – she lost nothing, but gained another element of calm. ‘This is a place that’s for relaxation, not work,’ she says. ‘I don’t even have wifi; it would have polluted the environment. I just read in bed or go for long walks through the vineyards surrounding the house.’
Living area Deborah’s favourite feature is the through-fireplace, which links the bedroom and lounge. The ‘Modular Slow’ sofa is by Milk and the wooden table is from a market in Bali Stockist details on p167
‘HOMES IN CHILE TEND TO HAVE A GALLERIA – A WALKWAY THAT CONNECTS DIFFERENT ROOMS. PABLO DID THAT HERE,
BUT HAD IT CR AFTED IN GLASS AND CONCRETE’
THE AIM WAS TO CR EATE A HOME THAT FELT AT
ONE WITH THE LANDSCAPE BUT PLAYED ON
TR A DITIONA L CHILEAN STYLE Kitchen Mosaic tiling from a Chilean supplier lines the wall. ‘Despite being so inexpensive, I think it looks like Bisazza!’, says Deborah. The countertop is made of silestone and the metal bar stools were bought in Santiago Stockist details on p167