COSTA RICA TRAVELS AND SPRING IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA
Architectural Travels
We’ve been spending a lot of time in Guanacaste, Costa Rica lately (three trips in the past 6 months!) and have come to appreciate the architecture of Studio Saxe. They understand how to build in the jungle: how to open up spaces, keep breezes flowing, provide interior vegetation and compose a casual vibe.
Three Studio Saxe properties are now featured on PlansMatter. The first is Nalu in Playa Guiones, Nosara. We stayed here for a week last September during the low (rainy) season. We loved the crisp, modern white villas; they were the perfect foil to the lush, wild landscape and dirt roads of Nosara. We instantly felt at home at Nalu thanks to the hospitality of the formerly Brooklyn-based owners Domal and Mariya. If you like world-class surfing, yoga and organic food Playa Guiones, Nosara is the place to be. More than one person has said this close-knit can-do beach community feels like Los Angeles in the 1960s. We also recommend the Harmony Hotel, La Luna, Beach Dog Café, all the food trucks, and turtle viewing in Ostional.
Second, is Casa Flotanta in Hermosa Beach. We stayed here last Thanksgiving with friends. We would love to hear the details about how Studio Saxe designed (and orchestrated the building of) this amazing structure on such a steep and isolated slope. The house is comprised of prefab “pods” set up high on concrete piers all connected with a bamboo walkway. Air circulates through the house keeping it naturally cool and insect free. Each morning we opened the wooden shutters at dawn to witness a Costa Rican “nature show”: butterflies, birds, monkeys, raccoons, frogs, toads, bats, coati and the roar of the ocean waves. Loved it! We also highly recommend the Florblanca Hotel for yoga and Koji’s Restaurant for sushi.
Finally, though we haven’t (yet) visited, Joya Villas recently opened in Santa Teresa. With interior planted gardens and bathrooms that open to the sky, Studio Saxe seems to be taking the concept of indoor/outdoor living one step further.
Many people fall in love with Guanacaste, Costa Rica on-the-spot. We did. In fact, we loved it so much that we bought land in the “American Project” near Playa Guiones, Nosara and plan to build a vacation rental of our own in the coming years. Keep watching Instagram for updates on the design!
#lovetostayhere
Please, please, please - can we stay here? We love how Studiomk27’s Brazilian Jungle House looks like a modern ruin (or oasis!) in the middle a rainforest. Nicely done. #lovetostayhere
PlansMatter in the News
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Spring in Northern Minnesota
Spring is officially here and what a wonderful time to plan a road trip to Gunflint Lake Cabin. The longer days bring warmer temperatures to the Gunflint Trail and cross country skiers love to take advantage of the next few weeks for spring snow conditions. It's a transition time.
Travel after the lake ice has melted and you can explore with the kayaks and canoe at the cabin - there are great options for serene day paddling in either direction. Delicate spring flowers - daisies, marsh marigold, wild strawberry blossoms - abound on the trails accessible directly from the cabin's front door. And don't worry if it's still a bit chilly at night, you can relax in the sauna and then build a fire in the wood stove.
Gunflint Lake Cabin was featured as one of the area's top 25 best private cabin getaways in Minnesota Monthly's Vacation Home Rental Guide.
