Discover the striking features of RCR House, an intimate refuge-like 4,300 square-foot villa designed by Vicente Gouveia of Visioarq Architecture & Planning in Central Portugal.

Sitting in its privileged location in Anadia, facing the natural landscape of Serra do Caramulo, RCR House stands as the distillation of a certain type of modernity, or at least, of the way in which the international style has been absorbed and reinterpreted in Portugal in the last decades.

When approached during the daytime, the main façade offers a powerful impression of balanced volumes made of different textures and materials. However, upon entering, or at night, when the inner lighting dissolves the connections between the superimposed prisms, they surprisingly merge.

The circulation area even features a linear staircase under a skylight, favored by a double-height ceiling and a visual relationship with the outside gardens.

With its simple, yet effective use of a few key elements of unexpected architectural modernity – exposed concrete pergolas, excavated porches, lacquered aluminum slats, large sheets of black lacquered matt glass, and folding aluminum shutters – the house succeeds in diluting the transition between inside and outside by means of intermediate spaces with varying degrees of permeability and light exposure.

In this clever game of incidental features, Panoramah! invisible frame sliding windows play a key role, seamlessly interweaving the house into a modern tradition that has been developing, almost unchangingly, since the heroic second post-war period: an architecture whose proven efficiency relies on a pragmatic gestural economy.

What We Love: This minimalist refuge in Central Portugal provides a fabulous indoor-outdoor living environment courtesy of the heavy use of glass throughout. Glass walls disappear to enhance this home by extending the living spaces and allowing the homeowners to enjoy the view of their outdoor spaces year-round. Overall, the project team did a fabulous job of creating a distinctive design that harmonizes seamlessly with the natural surroundings.

Tell Us: What are your overall thoughts on the design of this home? Are there any details you would change? Let us know in the Comments below!

Note: Take a look at a couple of other fascinating home tours that we have showcased here on One Kindesign in the country of Portugal: A charming seaside cabin on the beach of Portugal and Casa no Banzão ll overlooking the mountains in Portugal.

 PHOTOGRAPHER © Fernando Guerra | FG+SG

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