Pool

The central court opens up to a plantation of poplar trees and a swimming pool. The building is composed of a series of simple and monochromatic, cubic structures. Their dispersed arrangement provides views through the interstitial spaces, minimizing a massive appearance and generating an animated play of light and shadow.

Bedroom behind the secondary skin

Designer and artist Jaime Hayon renovated a 1920s apartment in Valencia, Spain, into a vibrant guesthouse and artist’s residency.

The shelving unit is one of the bespoke furniture pieces Hayon created for the apartment.

Though Ana Fortin bought a plot in Lisbon’s historic Belém district in 2014, she only moved into the home she now shares with her 10-year-old daughter, Madalena, last year. The city’s red tape slowed design and construction way down. But patience pays off: “I prefer to wait until everything’s perfect,” she says.

The ruins on Ana’s land were removed ahead of construction, but Fala saved the original retaining walls in the back garden. The studio also attached massive mirrors to the walls to make the penned-in yard feel more open and spacious.

When Ana’s design team at Fala Atelier first proposed blocky kitchen cabinets with dramatic stripes, Ana hesitated. “I thought it would be too much,” she says. “But it’s not. It is incredible, and it is very elegant.” Fala’s Filipe Magalhães says the plays of scale and direction in the house’s patterns make the modest spaces feel grander and create a visual rhythm.

For Ana, it was important that guests could gather throughout the open ground floor. Her kitchen and living room flow into each other. Everyone can relax on the mustard Togo sofa from Ligne Roset in the living room or pull up a Hiroshima chair at the custom Tomaz Viana table by the kitchen.

Dining room with adjacent lounge

Bedroom with ensuite bath

Although the main goal for the renovation of the ground floor was to create a more open floor plan, it was equally important to preserve as many details as possible. The plasterwork on the ceiling and the marble fireplace are both original features. A Florence sofa from Van Gogh Designs stands across from a feather lounge chair by Elite Living.

The multiple planes of the facade create a complex form, allowing part of the second floor to hide behind the white plaster cement mass at the front of the home.

Lower level dining and kitchen area.

Powder bath.

Centerpiece of the entry is an Art Nouveau carved wood bench attributed to Antoni Guadí; the ceiling fixture was made in France in the 1930s.

An upper-level media room.