Nestled between the cliffs of Catalonia and the sea, Alella is a popular commuter town on the outskirts of Barcelona. Its views and vistas are hard to beat, which might explain why the area is peppered with luxury properties and vacation homes peeking out at the Mediterranean from atop the Catalan Coastal Range. In the town itself, the streets are busy with locals and vacationers alike. But it’s high in the cliffs that Benjamín Iborra Wicksteed and Alicia Andres Fernandez carved out a little slice of peace and quiet for their young family.

Originally from Catalonia and Granada respectively, Benjamín and Alicia met during university on an exchange year in Dublin. When they returned to Barcelona to finish their studies, the couple fell in love with the city, and each other. They married in 2018, and began searching for a home to call their own.

After about a year of searching for an inner-city flat to purchase, the couple realized they’d been priced out of property in Barcelona itself. But Benjamín is a trained architect and a partner at design and architecture firm Mesura, so the couple began scouring the city’s perimeter for a plot on which they could build their home. As it turns out, Alella was just within their radius.

“When we came to see the plot, we totally fell in love with it because of the views,” Benjamín says. It wasn’t an easy sell, though—the couple missed their original showing, and they weren’t impressed with the photos they found online anyway. But when the realtor later called to ask why they hadn’t shown up to their appointment, they decided to take a closer look at the land for themselves. When they arrived, it was love at first sight.

When they started to design their dream home, however, it was another story: The steep topography would be hard to tame, the plot was filled with rubble from the construction of neighboring houses, and while the couple had grown accustomed to the light and privacy of the inner-city lofts, their plot of land in Alella opened up to a busy street crowded with eclectic townhouses.

“What we did is lower the house,” Benjamín explains. It’s an elegant solution: Instead of rising above the street level like neighboring homes, the dwelling descends into the cliffside. The home takes its name—Casa Dosmurs, a Catalan portmanteau for “two walls”—from the thick concrete slabs that encase the home from the east and west. These elements, and the ceiling, were prefabricated off-site and lowered into a clearing in the cliffside, transforming the empty plot of land into a minimalist house in around three days. From the surface street, all you can see is a flat rooftop patio tiled with traditional Catalan ceramics and fenced in by a looping white handrail.

The house is oriented to look out from the cliffside: On a clear day, the south-facing windows present a spectacular view of the bold, blue sea. The rooftop patio hangs over a broad terrace on the lower level, which helps control the climate indoors. “This is key,” Benjamín says. “It’s a buffer for the sun in the summer, and a captor of lighting the winter.”

The upper level of Casa Dosmurs is home to the couple’s bedroom and a room for their son, Liam, while the kitchen and living room occupy the lower level. While the exterior of Casa Dosmurs is designed to protect the family’s privacy, the interior is open and free flowing: The bedrooms don’t have doors. Instead, the family’s lives spill out across the open floor plan; even the shared bathroom between both bedrooms acts as a hallway. At home, the family is in near constant contact with one another. “For me, this has been the most amazing thing about living here,” Alicia says.

Their space is fluid, dynamic, and pared down to a few key possessions: clothes, gifts from friends, furniture from local designers, and photographs taken by Benjamín’s brother. It’s an unconventional setup, but one that works well for the family. “Even on the first day, when we had lunch on the floor with Liam, I said that I felt at home,” Alicia says.

“We see each other all the time, and we hear each other all the time,” Benjamín says. “But for us, privacy is not what we want: We want to share all our moments together.”

And for the young family, there are plenty of moments to share on the horizon: The couple are now expecting their second child.

More projects by Mesura:

An Artful Home at the Heart of Barcelona’s Creative Scene Doubles as a Gallery

A Dreamy Home in Catalonia Celebrates the Mediterranean Way of Life

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: Mesura / @mesura.eu

Builder/General Contractor: Viraje Arquitectura / @viraje_arquitectura

Structural Engineer: Joan Capdevila Batlle

Civil Engineer: Mesura

Landscape Design: Mesura

Lighting/Interior/Cabinetry: Mesura

Sound Engineer: Mesura

Kitchen Design: Hostelgrup & Cubro

Switches & Plugs: Font Barcelona & Jung

Door Handles: Indoors

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An Architect Perches His Brick-Forward Family Home High on a Catalonian Cliffside