This Chilean House Recreates the Hot Spring Experience With a Super Luxurious Stone Tub

The sunken bathtub in Carlos Winckler and Birghita Teuber’s new home may seem novel until you speak to their son—and the project’s architect—Cristian Winckler. He wanted to keep their new 3,000-square-foot residence, located in a cloudy climate, as bright as possible. No fewer than nine atriums punctuate the home’s interiors to admit as much sunlight as possible and foster a connection to nature. One such connection occurs in a bathroom; Winckler—who started his own firm after this project—says he "wanted the bathtub to be in situ so [its] relation with the outside patio and the vegetation is more direct." Its local stone surfacing and subterranean design evoke the hot springs common to the area; in Osorno one need only "make a hole in the land and [out comes] hot water."