When Carolina Correa, founding partner of a Santiago, Chile-based branding and design studio, purchased a tiny second home on a steep forested hill in the beach resort of Zapallar, she saw it less as a finished product than the nugget of a bigger idea. “What was interesting for me was that I could make that house into a project,” she explains. “My family could live in it for a while, and we could see what we needed to do to make it our own.”

The 753-square-foot house was really more of a glorified atelier. Built in 2010, its facade of window panes (repurposed from a Santiago office) gave it sweeping views over a pacific bay. Yet, there was just one small bedroom. For the first four years, Carolina’s three kids had to sleep on beds in the living room, which she converted into sofas during the day. “It was a bit like glamping,” Carolina recalls.

Then, in 2021, as the kids became teenagers, she enlisted her architect brother Ignacio Correa to expand the property. He did so in a rather unusual way, building an entirely new 861-square-foot unit (with two bedrooms and one bathroom) southwest of the original house, connecting it via a bridge that snakes through eucalyptus and pine.

Private but Connected

Carolina: To call the initial property a house is an exaggeration. It’s pretentious, even. But it was very unique, with a view and a location in the forest that I loved. So, my goal with the addition was to make the house comfortable enough that my kids could invite their friends.

Ignacio: Because the original house was located at the top of the lot, and there are height limits in the area, the idea was to unfurl the new project down the remaining land below, to appropriate this extra space. At the same time, I wanted to establish a connection with the house’s origins while also constructing some distance, visually, between the original building and the addition.

Carolina: What was interesting about Ignacio’s proposal was that it was just really practical for me. I’m separated from the father of my kids, and I go alone sometimes. I liked the inherent duality that, on one hand, there is the part of the house that is just for me, which is the public area plus my room. And then there is the other side, the addition, that I can disconnect from if nobody is coming with me. In those times, the house simply returns to its origin.

Also, because Ignacio created a new project that was separate from the original house, I could visit and be here while people were working. In the end, it’s like two independent projects united by a bridge, so the original house was never out of use.

Constructing a journey through nature

Ignacio: The beauty of this house is that, when you see it, you can still see the topography of the hill. I love a project in which you can see that the landscape and the building are not in conflict. You can close your eyes and still recognize how this land was before the project came to be. If I constructed the whole thing on stilts, then I would have to occupy the whole hillside, and the hill would stop being a hill.

Carolina: It feels to me like the architecture that needed to be built for the space.

Ignacio: The original house offers a panoramic view. So, I thought that, with the addition, we could have a different kind of transparency that shows you particular parts of the landscape. I wanted to give value to the smaller details that you lose with complete transparency. It’s like a photo: When you take a picture, you select some part of the view that is special for you. So, you have the opportunity to understand that this landscape is composed of unique parts.

Carolina: I love the transparency of the house. It’s like a gesture of appreciation towards the environment. It allows me to look out in all directions without feeling threatened or watched.

Ignacio: The original entrance was on the exposed side of the hill, but I changed that so you now enter from the back. This way, your first contact is with the trees and the birds. Then, when you reach the top, in that moment, you understand that you are in this magnificent landscape, but you don’t lose the details.

You also have this possibility once you enter to go in a new direction and find a closer relationship to the landscape. So, you go down the stairs in the bridge, and you discover one view, then you turn again and you discover another view.

Gaining Independence

Carolina: My daughter is on the top floor of the addition, which has a bathroom. Then the two boys share a room below, where we have a storage space.

Ignacio: It’s like a pyramid in three heights with Carolina on top.

Carolina: With this extension, I’ve achieved a bit of independence from my kids, and them from me. But the family dynamic within the house hasn’t changed. Since there’s so much transparency in the design, we remain connected. You can always see down below or up above. I gained independence and the ability for my kids to bring their friends, but the rest—the family dynamic—remains as it always was in the original house that I bought.

Project Credits:

Architect: Ignacio Correa Arquitecto / @ignacio.correa.arquitecto

Engineer: Alex Pop

Builder: Hugo Borquez

Electrical: During Illuminacion

—

More Construction Diaries:

In Los Angeles, a Couple Create a Multigenerational Haven

In the Mojave Desert, a First-Time Builder Takes On a Tricky Prefab Home