A House Among The Tree Tops That Brings Old Memories To Life

Built in the same spot where the owner’s childhood family home once stood, this house from Yucatan, Mexico has a really special way of interacting with nature and in particular with the beautiful old trees that have been growing on the site for decades. The project was entitled Life on the tree and was completed in 2019 by architecture studio LAAR. At the core of the project stands a desire to bring beautiful old memories to life.

The house is suspended above the ground, essentially consisting entirely on a second floor

The ground floor is an open outdoor area with a swimming pool and patio

The old stone walls of the owner’s childhood home still stand although everything else has long disappeared. These and the old trees are the only remnants of the past. Through this project, the architects wanted to allow the owner to relive some of the beautiful memories that they have of this place. Some of the most vivid ones are of them climbing these very trees so a design decision was made to turn this into a sort of modern tree house.

The new house occupies the same lot as the old family house that used to sit here

The cantilevered volume creates a series of sheltered spaces below

The stone wall ruins were preserved intact and now delineate what is basically the ground floor of this place. It’s actually open patio-like space. The actual house is raised above the ground, sheltered beneath the big tree canopies that form a green roof over it. The cozy indoor areas are suspended between the branches of the trees, allowing the inhabitants to feel as if they’re floating. The trees actually go through the house itself, going through holes in the floor and allowing this place to truly feel like a tree house.