aspire is delighted to welcome Natalie Officer as our inaugural guest editor. Officer is the driving force behind her namesake firm, Natalie O. Design. With over 25 years of experience in fashion and design, Natalie’s craft is firmly rooted in humanity, empathy and connection. In our recently released summer issue, Natalie shares with us a home in Baja Sur designed to shelter its owners from the chaos of everyday life, letting them simply breathe while welcoming the outside in.
A plunge into San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico finds one centered between the sun’s rising expanse over the Gulf of California and its resting in the Pacific Ocean. Susan Marinello and Katie Quackenbush took a dive south to Baja Sur, where sun-drenched pathways lead from the sea to private homes and exterior spaces are paramount to design.
Temperatures hover above 80 and gently below 100 year-round, as the sun sheds ample light on the faceted glass structure, fit and finished by Marinello’s namesake Seattle-based firm. Graphic shadows play melodically across everything within solar reach, windows are art and the properties of the outdoors enchant even the most belligerent indoor enthusiast. Built for a family of eight, this home is “their getaway and their respite; they can duck in and out any time with ease.”
Marinello believes that there is outrageous chaos in our lives and lifestyles, and that our interiors create the opportunity to catch our breath. The restorative qualities of Baja Sur nurture, while the home’s design grounds them. “It’s a place where you can get your head on, talk with your family and have fun — simply live your life free of extraneousness.”
Water and mountains bombard the West Coast from the Pacific Northwest to Baja Sur, making contemporary architecture less defined and restricting. “Any project on the West Coast,” Marinello states, “and all the way down the Baja Peninsula, is about what’s happening outside.” The home is designed to shed its walls and divest itself of forms that might restrict light, air or sound — a plan intricately woven with wellness.
Quackenbush describes the home when the walls of glass are open: “Everything feels as one — there’s no differentiation between inside and outside.” Marinello agrees, adding, “That thin exterior wall extends right out to the water, its blue-and-green limewash traversing shadows and light throughout the day. We wanted that nuance to really blend in, if you will, to the sky and the water.”
The sprawling spaces are as fluid and tranquil as Quackenbush depicts, all appointed equally, yet with restraint. Like carefully sourced minerals, Marinello includes abstract, figurative work from famed Frank Arnold of San José del Cabo, placing it over a native parota wood console. Balancing the view brilliantly, she brings ceramic sculptor Iván Carmona’s work to bask seaside, lending scaled form to the windows.
When pressed regarding the context of contemporary architecture, Marinello stands firm. “It’s important to provide balance. If something’s more contemporary, we’re looking at layers and textures to soften the hardness, to soften the glass. It’s overarching; all that matters is the connection to the exterior view. That is what we are mindful of, curating interiors that are not competing with the exterior. It isn’t necessarily a conversation of contemporary or traditional; it’s about context and understanding.” Making a point so dear to her Washington State heart, she quips, “Nature is the star.”
Photography by Aaron Leitz.
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