In the early 2000s, Pedro Logiodice’s family acquired a farm in the Bocaina region of Brazil. As they visited over the next two decades, the family built connections with the land, and with one another. “Over the past 25 years, this place has become profoundly meaningful to us,” Pedro says of the area, which sits outside São Paulo. “It provided a connection to nature that balanced my life spent in São Paulo's vast urban environment, carrying me from childhood through adulthood.”

The family eventually found themselves needing more space, but they couldn’t build new structures on the site due to its location in a national park, so they looked next door. “Recently, we acquired the neighboring property,” explains Pedro. They named it Terra Nostra Farm, and they engaged architect Mariana Caires and Arquipélago Arquitetos to create a new family residence.

While the family’s first property was nestled in a valley, Terra Nostra sits atop a hill with sweeping views of the rolling landscape. “Our goal was to create a house that felt comfortable, yet distinctly different from our previous property: lighter, more transparent, and genuinely open to the landscape,” says Pedro. The family worked with Caires and Luis Tavares of Arquipélago Arquitetos to create a structure that’s suspended above the earth.

Because the property was quite remote and difficult to access, Tavares and Caires turned to prefabrication. “We had to design something with high engineering precision, and because of that we adopted a prefabricated, light timber structure,” explains Tavares. Wood was also a natural choice for the building because of its ability to stand up to varying weather conditions, and for its sustainable qualities, as trees capture carbon over the course of their lifetimes.

Working with engineer João Pini, the team developed a structural system for the home that would be light on the land, but strong enough to stand up to the harsh winds that sweep up the hillside. They landed on an arched form that follows the curve of the terrain and reduces the need for steel bracing. “The landscape informs the architecture, and its form is its structure,” says Caires.

The result is a long, skinny dwelling on stilts that hugs the hillside. Vast window walls on all sides of the home give the feeling that the glulam roof is hovering above the interior. At either end of the home, covered verandas offer spaces to take in the sights, sounds, and smells of the landscape. Outside, the family runs a small-scale farming operation, producing cheese and olive oil by hand, tending to crops like corn and beans, and caring for sheep, chickens, pigs, and horses. “The land also offers natural treasures, including waterfalls, that we visit regularly,” says Pedro.

Inside, the timber construction creates a cozy sense of grounding—a warm, welcoming place of refuge to counter the sweeping views. “The house carries the warm scent of wood,” says Pedro. “The bedrooms provide cozy, intimate enclosures, while the living room opens generously, filled with natural light and air.” The bedrooms are one of Caires’s favorite elements of the home. “In the bedrooms, I appreciate how the windows frame the views,” she says. “Each room offers a different invitation to contemplate the landscape.”

Wrapping the home’s circulation corridor around the hillside also helped bring the scale down and create a welcoming feel. A large boulder provides visual interest and almost feels as though it is inside the curving hallway. “The house exemplifies how structural precision combined with an attentive reading of the site can translate into warmth and sensitivity,” says Caires.

Now, the home offers a landing pad for the Logiodice family to continue their legacy in the Bocaina region, in a place that embraces the airy qualities of the hilly site. “Local residents of Bocaina have dubbed our house Casa do Pássaro—the Bird House,” says Pedro. “From a distance it resembles a bird perched on the hill, and inside, you truly feel as though you’re flying.”

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Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Arquipélago Arquitetos and Mariana Caires / @arquipelago.co

Structural Engineer: ITA Engenharia em Madeira

Civil Engineer: Mapenge Engenharia

Geotechnical: Adda Consultoria

Installations: Jr Engenharia

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