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Lasala joins her for coffee at the poured-concrete kitchen counter. The stools were designed by Deborah and made by Mendoza. “I’d still love to finish some stuff,” says Deborah, “but I think the house right now feels pretty much as it should be.”

The single bathroom is made of concrete and has a shower open to the sky.

Deborah models a face in clay in her workshop, located a few steps from the house.

The exposed underside of the thatched roof adds to the rustic feel of the home. “It’s a bit like being in a tree house,” says Lasala.

Deborah crafted three large pendants from bejuco, a thick, flexible vine.

Deborah sits on the concrete staircase at the center of the house. Doubling as an extension of the kitchen, it encases a stove, a refrigerator, and storage space. “These stairs for me are like sculpture that you can use,” says the Venezuelan-born artist. “They’re a cross between art and functionality.”

Most of the furnishings, including the daybed, coffee table, and stools in the living area, were designed by Deborah and built by her handyman and carpenter, Luis Rey Mendoza. Secluded at the house for much of the pandemic, Deborah threw herself into creating items for the interior. “It was my art project,” she says.

The relatively remote location is accessed via dirt roads. A short walk leads to the ocean—visible from the home’s upper level—but it takes a half hour to drive to the center of Puerto Escondido, so planning is required for an extended stay. “You don’t want to have to go back to town because you forgot your sunblock,” Deborah says.

palapa

Floor Plan of Casa C by Dellekamp Arquitectos