Stem. Seed. Sauté. Strain. Simmer. For Raymundo Cortés and Julia Molina, the art of making mole is a three-day family affair. Preparing the sauce—made of dried chiles, nuts, seeds, spices, and plenty of patience—is a time-honored tradition that has become an annual birthday ritual for Julia’s father. It also partially drove the design of the couple’s new home in Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico.

Each year, some 40 to 50 family members gather—including Julia’s nine siblings and their growing families—for what’s become an annual labor of love. To accommodate the festivities, Raymundo and Julia envisioned creating a “very, very open” living, kitchen, and dining area that could comfortably host large gatherings while still supporting daily life with their two young children. “You don’t go looking for an architect to get what’s already on the market,” says Raymundo. “You go looking for something that suits you.”

Architect Daniel Segovia Molina delivered exactly that. After touring Segovio Molina’s other designs, Raymundo and Julia approached the Querétaro-based architect with a generously open brief that gave creative latitude throughout the design process. “The meeting was very serious,” he recalls—and he wasn’t sure how his proposal was received. “I thought, ‘Oh shit, there’s no way.’” Four weeks later, construction was underway.

The result is far from anything you’d find in a traditional Mexican home. Segovia Molina organized the interiors around a series of interconnected living spaces, interior gardens, and light-filled circulation paths so that the family can remain connected throughout the day. The planted spaces draw hummingbirds and butterflies, and the couple’s children can roam freely without straying far from view thanks to sight lines between floors.

“They have things to explore—not just television, not just toys,” says Julia. “The gardens are the best thing in my life, because our daughter can explore and look at the birds. She has all these spaces that give her freedom.”

Throughout the process, Raymundo and Julia were flexible with just one request: to include stained glass windows, in a nod to the house Julia grew up in. “This home is for my kids, and I want them to be amazed with all the things from my childhood,” she says.

Segovia Molina planned the layout so that daylight follows the family throughout the afternoon. The windows cast subtle colors that change with the sun, giving the children something new to discover every day. “When clients give you those cues—so small but so passionate—it reflects in the design,” he says.

For a two-person practice in Querétaro, the project was ambitious. Over the course of the 18-month build, regulations, construction realities, and evolving ideas reshaped the design. The living room grew taller, the stair was recast in concrete, and countless details evolved as construction progressed.

Through it all, Julia and Raymundo never wavered. “The hardest part is believing that everything is going to work out the way you dream it will,” says Julia. In the end, the house has become another family tradition in the making.

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Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Taller Segovia Molina / @tallersegoviamolina

Builder: Taller Segovia Molina

Structural Engineer: Andrés Casal

Landscape Design: Matorral

Lighting Design: Elmex