Casa Cristobal

Casa Cristobal sits on a jungle hillside above Dominical, a modern residence of white planes and deep overhangs opening onto a pool terrace surrounded by canopy. The architecture does its best work at the threshold between inside and out — so the lighting had to do the same.

The design uses layered residential lighting throughout: ambient illumination in the living areas, task lighting in the kitchen, and accent lighting that traces the architecture’s strong horizontal lines after dark. We specified DMF fixtures throughout for their warm color temperature, high CRI, and performance in a tropical climate.

The whole house runs on Lutron lighting control, with custom scenes programmed for the way the home actually lives — bright and unobtrusive at midday, warming gradually through the afternoon, and settling into a low evening glow that lets the jungle and the pool take over as the view.

At dusk, the result is what the photographs show: a house that doesn’t fight the darkness around it, but holds its own quiet level against it.