Casa San Ignacio

Casa San Ignacio sits in a small town north of Jalisco, Mexico, on a site that once held the remains of a traditional adobe house — a common typology in the region. The project was conceived as an homage to this vernacular: simple, solid volumes aligned to the sidewalk, largely closed to the street yet connected to the interior through a transitional passage known locally as a zaguán, which offers brief, framed glimpses into the home. The façade reflects this spirit. It rises flush with the street, mostly opaque, punctuated by measured openings: a concrete lattice and a shuttered main door that reveal the home’s introspective character. A pale blue tower lifts above the horizontal mass, dissolving into the sky — the same blue pigment that colors the stucco and ironwork throughout the project. At the heart of the house lies a garden organized around an existing plum tree. A fountain feeds a stone pond by way of a narrow channel, filling the home with the sound of moving water. Life unfolds in two main volumes: the front block, containing the family’s primary everyday spaces, and the rear block, set beyond the garden, which holds a large fireplace room used for gatherings and celebrations. An arched opening frames views toward the family’s farmland. The rooftop functions as both a pot garden and a place for meditation — an open-air extension of domestic life. Materials such as brick, clay tile, and terracotta flooring are all sourced regionally, reinforcing the home’s grounding in its landscape and cultural context.