Isabel Pinto and Matías Riveros traded their apartment in Santiago, Chile, for a rental home nearly 625 miles south in the Patagonian resort town of Frutillar in 2018. The idea was to raise their then-one-year-old daughter Elisa in the countryside while working remotely for their design studio, Rima, and pursuing a more sustainable, self-sufficient lifestyle.

At first glance, Frutillar was everything they’d hoped for. It was quiet, safe, and scenic, surrounded by temperate rainforests and a sprawling lake that Matías could bike around. Yet, the couple quickly realized that their rental came with a fatal flaw—a lack of well-aligned windows—that made Patagonia’s cold, dark winters feel exceptionally cruel.

“I’m like a lizard who spends her days looking for the sun,” explains Isabel. So, in 2020, when she and Matías enlisted Chilean architect Max Noguera, cofounder of Max-A Arquitectura, to design their first home, ample light was a top request.

Noguera knew just what to do. He oriented the 1,550-square-foot house to the north to maximize daylighting, and he crafted the entire north-facing wall out of glass, with latticed window frames to refract excess sun during summer’s long, blue-sky days. Next, he placed the kitchen along the east-facing wall, giving it a rectangular window to welcome the horizontal rays of daybreak. He placed the two bedrooms to the west, and included picture windows to frame the sunset. Finally, he designed a skylight above the home’s darker southern entryway, which actually lies near the center of the structure at the end of a covered tunnel.

Patagonia’s notorious winds also informed the design process. The young family were the first to build on a string of new lots carved out of cow pasture; theirs included a small mound that offered the best views. Yet, Noguera knew that placing a home on the elevated land would leave it exposed to the elements, forever rattling during the squallier winter months.

“A key thing in all our projects is that we design for the site,” Noguera explains. So, the architect instead placed the property in a protected area down below, giving it a sloped roof in the shape of an arrow to make it aerodynamic.

Isabel says the unconventional form reflects the couple’s creative spirit. “The idea of an arrow pointing toward the north felt symbolic to me,” she says. “It was like we were all advancing in the right direction toward the next stage in our lives.”

The pitched roof, which rises to almost 20 feet, gives the living room a cathedral-like feel, while patchwork floor-to-ceiling shelving units (which mimic the northern window wall) give the otherwise open common area some structure—all without diminishing the light. “The house looks like a bunker from the back side,” notes Matías, “so all of this luminosity surprises people when they first enter.”

Matías says people are also amazed by how cozy the place feels, thanks to the woodburning stove. “It really is the heart of the house,” he explains. Not only does it warm the entire place; it also heats water for the two bathrooms and cooks the family’s food. Much of the latter comes from a garden and greenhouse out back, where Isabel harvests kale, lima beans, arugula, tomatoes, and other seasonal produce. Electricity, meanwhile, comes from 14 solar panels, which line the top of the couple’s angular garage nearby.

Off-grid life in the countryside is certainly a far cry from the hustle of Santiago. But Isabel says she couldn’t imagine going back to her old city apartment, whose balcony was only big enough for a few potted plants. “Even after living here several years, I haven’t gotten over how pretty it is,” she says. “I hope I never do.”

More projects by Max-A:

In Chile, an Architect Couple Build an A-Frame Cabin in Just Six Months

Thanks to a Jewel-Like Skylight, This Chilean Cabin Glows From Top to Bottom

Budget Breakdown: This Modular Cabin in Chile Cost Just $51 Per Square Foot

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Max-A / @max_a_arquitectos

Builder/General Contractor: C&C Construcciones

Structural Engineer: Alberto Ramirez Covo

Landscape Design: Alejandra Marambio, Max-A

Lighting Design: Max Noguera, Max-A

Insulation: Thermik Haus

Glazing: Carpyvent