A very special client (who didn’t know us but had been recommended to us) invited us to the Somosaguas neighborhood of Madrid. He had just purchased a mansion of little architectural interest, though situated on an attractive plot of land. After visiting it, he asked me if, with some renovations, it could be transformed into the most beautiful house in the capital. I told him with all honesty that it could not. Without further ado, he instructed his secretary to begin demolishing it the next day and commissioned me for the new project.

Madrid is not Mediterranean. There, I had to set aside the patios, porches, pergolas, and Arabic-Roman gardens that I so love. Perhaps because of this -and due to my admiration for Lutyens- the house and garden took on a somewhat British character. The main mansion is spread over two floors, but the hill rises up to the upper floor, where we created an elevated pathway that aligns with the pond located on the roof of the service house, which oversees the entrance to the property.

A grand double-height glass vestibule, with stucco walls, wooden cobblestone flooring, and illuminated by crystal chandeliers, serves as both a carriage courtyard and a noble entrance (no one arrives there on foot). The outdoor pool appears as a pond; the indoor pool is situated in the humid warmth of the greenhouse.