Take a plunge at Brandílera House on the Mexican Pacific Coast
Brandílera House by Manuel Cervantes Estudio is a Mexican Pacific Coast retreat making the most of its views and green site

Brandílera House by Manuel Cervantes Estudio offers the kind of dreamy architectural escape that makes you yearn for the seaside. The holiday home, which was created in partnership with the client, designer James Perse, is set in Mexico's Pacific Coast and is centred on its verdant plot, orientated towards sea views and framed natural vistas. At the same time, a courtyard arrangement means that a sense of cocooning is equally available to its residents.
Tour Brandílera House by Manuel Cervantes Estudio
The structure's low-lying volume is arranged in a series of small pavilions, opening to green spaces and dotted with courtyards. Open and closed elements are connected through paths and routes 'in a game of walls, porticoes, vegetation and pavements,' the architects explain.
This means that open spaces are just as important as enclosed ones at Brandílera House. An indoor/outdoor lifestyle is enhanced, supported by the home's key features - its gardens and colonnades.
The generous property spans some 3,600 sq m. The interiors contain nine bedroom suites, a variety of living and socializing spaces, pools and a spa.
Landscaping and planting took their cues from what naturally existed on the site before - enriching greenery further with native species. It was a route the architecture studio often favours, aiming to keep things refined but simple, organic and natural.
The same approach translates in Brandílera House's material palette too, as the architects explain: 'Simplicity is also transmitted in the decision of materials: concrete structures and walls pigmented apparent, partition floors, and wood in windows and furniture, are the 3 materials used throughout the construction. The rest: the vegetation and the water. Nature.'
Manuel Cervantes Estudio is behind a range of quietly luxurious residences across the country, blending effortlessly local and global approaches and a deep understanding of materiality and climatic needs in the region.
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Past works have included Hill House, a retreat nestled in a richly wooded countryside plot, and Cervantes' own live/work headquarters in Mexico City.
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Meet Malak Mattar, the Palestinian artist behind the 'Together for Palestine' concert at London's Wembley Arena
The London-based artist curates a landmark concert of music and art in support of Gaza, alongside Brian Eno, James Blake, Jamie xx, Neneh Cherry and more
-
A new coffee table book proves that one designer’s trash is another’s treasure
The Rizzoli tome, launching today (16 September 2025), delves into the philosophy and process of Retrouvius, a design studio reclaiming salvaged materials in weird and wonderful ways
-
A carbon-emission-busting house, yeast-biomass building, and more ‘Designs for a Cooler Planet’
‘Designs for a Cooler Planet’ returns to Aalto University in Finland as part of the annual Helsinki design and architecture week, highlighting buildings, materials and solutions towards a better future
-
A Mexican clifftop retreat offers both drama, and a sense of place
Casa Piscina del cielo, a clifftop retreat by Zozaya Arquitectos, creates the perfect blend of drama and cosiness on Mexico's Pacific Coast
-
Broken up into six pavilions, this brutalist Mexican house is embedded in the landscape
Sordo Madaleno’s brutalist Mexican house, Rancho del Bosque, is divided up into a series of pavilions to preserve the character of its hillside site, combining concrete, curves and far-reaching views
-
The Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s houses of the month
Wallpaper* has spotlighted an array of remarkable architecture in the past month – from a pink desert home to structures that appears to float above the ground. These are the houses and buildings that most captured our attention in August 2025
-
Estudio Ome on how the goal of its landscapes ‘is to provoke, even through a subtle detail, an experience’
The Mexico City-based practice explores landscape architecture in Mexico, France and beyond, seeking to unite ‘art and ecology’
-
Pretty in cactus-inspired pink, this Mexican desert house responds to its arid context
Casa Cardona, a pink house by architects Sensacional Dinamica Mexicana, is a multigenerational home that celebrates colour and changing light
-
As climate disasters increase, can architecture respond? Kon-tigo, a post-hurricane Acapulco house design, shows us how
Kon-tigo is a housing project by Manuel Cervantes Estudio, which creates bioclimatic homes that address climate disasters and inequalities in Acapulco, Mexico
-
An eco-friendly Mexican ranch offers sleep under a beautifully crafted brick vault
Architects Goma have built a Mexican ranch with a stunning red-brick guest pavilion; Rancho El Ameyal is a lush eco-retreat in the central Mexican state of Querétaro
-
In Quintana Roo, a park mesmerises with its geometric pavilion
A Mexican events venue in the state of Quintana Roo rings the changes with a year-round pavilion that fosters a strong connection between its users and nature