Gisela Williams of The New York Times wrote about this cool jungle house built by an American couple who chucked their corporate gigs and moved to Costa Rica. Kent Gilbert took the photos, and the slide show is a must see.
From the moment the couple found and bought (for $72,000) the land, things moved relatively quickly. The family sold their house in Miami in June 2002, moved into a nearby rental house in Cocles Beach in Costa Rica and started building two months later.
"We had to build a road first," Mr. Pinto said. "It should have taken two weeks but it took three months because of the rains."
One of the people instrumental in facilitating the Pintos move to Puerto Viejo was Nicolas Buffile, a French architect who also owned the area's most upscale hotel, the Shawandha Lodge near Chiquita Beach. "We hit it off right away. He was more than just an architect," Mr. Pinto said. "Nicolas became a personal friend and helped us through all the procedures and introduced us to locals."
Construction of the house was completed in August 2003 for a total cost of $135,000, including the price to bring in electricity and build the road.
In Costa Rica, a Home Without Walls (Thanks, Darryl!)
