House in Fonte Boa is a beautiful two-storey single family residence based on a small estate located in central Portugal’s Rabaçal valley. Bounded by mountains, a vineyard and olive trees, the property is located on the west side of the land to maximise the views of the surroundings, creating a fantastic relationship between the interior and exterior.

Reinterpreting the traditional single family housing typology, the architect João Mendes Ribeiro proposes a strong relationship between the building and the land on which it rises is solved through a series of platforms which follow a dual purpose. On the one hand, the house rises above the ground thanks to a half buried plinth and on the other, the platforms create a serial access to the house, passing through a set of different situations while getting inside.

All the interior spaces have a particular relationship with the outside, through a set of large openings or small windows that intensify, in very different ways, the connection that the house establishes with the landscape.

I love the sense of simplicity of this minimalist rural white house lying in the calmness of a green countryside.

Photography by Jose Campos.