Casa de Pura Vida

This residence embodies a lifestyle centered on appreciating natural beauty and simple pleasures. The home’s open-plan architecture and expansive glazing demanded a lighting and shade strategy that worked with the environment rather than against it.

We joined the project during schematic design and collaborated with the architect to position fixtures and shade pockets before framing began. The priority was preserving the home’s connection to its surroundings: landscape views, native gardens, and natural daylight are the primary design elements. Artificial lighting serves as subtle support.

Interior lighting layers include recessed downlights from DMF in circulation areas, linear LED cove lighting in living spaces, and pendant fixtures over the kitchen island and dining areas. Every fixture was selected for warm color temperature and high CRI to complement the natural wood and stone finishes throughout the home.

Motorized roller shades from Lutron manage solar heat gain on the south and west elevations while maintaining views through solar-filtering fabrics. Blackout shades in bedrooms operate on automated morning and evening schedules.

The full system runs on Lutron RadioRA, giving the homeowners whole-home control through wall keypads and the mobile app. We programmed custom scenes — morning, daytime, entertaining, and night — that adjust both lighting levels and shade positions together.

Exterior landscape lighting by Coastal Source illuminates pathways, garden features, and the pool area, extending the home’s living space into the evening hours.