Budget Breakdown: They Built Their $60K Home to Preserve the Surrounding Forest

Camilo Fuentealba and Eduardo Díaz met in 2010 while studying architecture in the Chilean city of Concepción. They hit it off—both personally and professionally—founded their own firm, Estudio Sur, in 2016, and moved to the resort town of Puerto Varas a few years later.

Funds were limited, but the pair found an affordable plot of land about 15 minutes west of the city. Its biggest selling point was that it was still encased in native Valdivian rainforest. To protect the site, they went with a small footprint (about 1,075 square feet), building up instead of out. Then they placed square windows to frame the surrounding trees—from trunk to canopy—so that as you rise through the open, split-level plan, which is arranged around an atrium, you can "view the forest from different perspectives," Camilo says.

"We saw there was an emerging market and not much competition, so we settled down here to try our luck," recalls Camilo. Surrounded by volcano-studded parklands on the shores of Chile’s second-largest lake, Puerto Varas boomed during the pandemic, giving the young couple (then in their late 20s) a flood of new clients just as they took on their most challenging project yet: building their own home.

The region’s cool, rainy climate influenced many decisions in the design. On the roof above the atrium is an 11.5-foot-wide window, the couple’s biggest splurge, which floods the home with light, saving on energy costs. The kitchen’s Bosca woodburning stove is not only ideal for making traditional kuchen cakes; it’s also the main source of heat, which rises through the five levels and warms the open rooms. Even the exterior walls, made from impregnated pinewood, are painted black to sponge up sunshine on cold, clear days. "The climate here in the south is tough," Eduardo says.

The couple oversaw the entire project, using independent builders. They also crafted nearly every piece of furniture themselves, including sleek countertops in the kitchen (made from budget-friendly microcement) and built-in seating in the sunken living room (where they indulged in underfloor heating). "We thought, What can we do on our own, how can we do it, and do we have the tools to do it?" Eduardo says. "Then we dared ourselves to get it done."

"I love having extra height in the central space because, no matter where you are, you’re aware of what’s happening elsewhere."

—Camilo Fuentealba, architect and resident

As it was a pandemic project, completed in March 2021, the architects included a home office, which they still use for everything except client meetings. (Those take place in Puerto Varas.) A door opens from the office to an L-shaped Cor-Ten steel balcony used for morning coffee breaks. Meanwhile, the two split levels above hold two minimalist bedrooms, as well as a third sleeping nook reached by ladder.

What would the architects have done differently with more cash? They might have swapped the pine for native wood, tacked a coatroom onto the entry, and added square footage for en suite bathrooms. Yet, working with a $60,000 budget, they were pleased to achieve three distinct sleeping areas, which come in handy when family comes calling. So, too, does the nearly 11-foot-long kitchen island, which doubles as a dining table for up to 15 guests. "It’s a relatively small house," Eduardo says, "but a lot of people can fit here."

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Estudio Sur Arquitectos

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