Collection by Lou Gonda
The expansive living space is bright and airy and opens to the central courtyard.
The soaring tongue-and-groove ceiling has clerestory windows at the top for added natural light. The wood beams are continued into the outdoor space. Glass sliding doors run the length of the space, seamlessly opening the entire home for indoor/outdoor entertaining.
The well-appointed chef's kitchen.
The backyard terrace connects to the living space and the tongue-and-groove, beamed ceiling extends straight into this indoor-outdoor space.
This backsplash may only cover a small surface area, but its asymmetric tiles are the kitchen’s pièce de résistance.
The external brick walls are part of the 1990 addition. The upper part had been rendered in acrylic and painted butter yellow. This was removed and the section was re-clad with a charred solid timber shiplap cladding. An enormous double-height window floods the living space with natural light.
A dirt driveway leads through the natural landscape to the front of the home. The concrete villa is located in Ibiza, one of several islands in an archipelago off the eastern coast of Spain.
Erpicum is known for using architectural elements to obscure the entry and orient the home toward the landscape rather than a single view. Visitors approach the home along a walkway that cuts through plantings and evokes a connection to the home's location along a prairie.
The kitchen and dining area seamlessly flow from the living room. Designed for entertaining, the space offers a 20-person dining table, three Gaggenau ovens, and a massive central island.
Opposite the dining room is an outdoor seating area overlooking the lap pool and gardens.
The clay tiles in the master suite’s shower were cut and fired by hand. The natural, textured tiles vary in color, and they were fired with a high-gloss finish, giving the shower the appearance of a shimmering cave.
Sleeping berths are curtained off to provide privacy in the guest quarters.
Downstairs in the guest quarters, a Murphy bed provides another sleeping spot, and a casual TV room is outfitted with a rustic-yet-modern aesthetic.
"A well-performing house extension facing south on a small inner-city block built in rammed earth is not easy to achieve," said Welsch. "However, in this challenge was our opportunity: We decided that our extension will curl around to capture the sun, creating a communal courtyard and allowing the occupants to look at their own house rather than a paling fence."
From the street, the house rises two stories, dropping down on the opposite side to follow the slope. Clive envisioned the top floor as a “crow’s nest.”
Cantilevered out over the hillside the residence, which also serves as the couple's primary residence, is threaded between the trees, anchored by its concrete foundation which stops just short of the tree’s roots.
