Summer construction updates from your friends at Bad Weather.
Open invite to anyone who wants to join us this summer!
Our March trip to Costa Rica was a different vibe. We spent most of our time in the small town of Cortes to get a feel for living in our area and enjoyed hanging out in our cute Airbnb, listening to the scarlet macaws squawking in the distance, working remotely, and spending our afternoons on Lot 13 envisioning the near future with our soon-to-be-built Villas Secretas.
Until now, most of our interactions with our architects, Vince Studio, had been through video conference calls and we wanted to see their work in person.
We dedicated a day to a live construction site visit and to see some of their completed projects. We road tripped to Alegria Village just outside of San Jose, where Vince is quite the popular architect: they’ve worked on a total of 11 projects in the community. Vince had projects in various phases, so it was great to see finished and work-in-progress homes similar to what we’re building.
Vince uses bioclimatic design and biophilic architecture principles, meaning the homes keep cooler in tropical climates and they use natural building materials where possible.
Vince Studio is targeting June or July 2023 for breaking ground at Villas Secretas as long as our permit processing goes smoothly and there aren’t any additional delays on their existing projects, but it is Costa Rica so pura vida🤞
We also lined up a place for us to live while Villas Secretas is under construction! Our friend and groundskeeper Juan Carlos recently built his own 300-square-foot “apartamentico.” “Tico” is a nickname for Costa Ricans that means “little/small” and is also a common diminutive for “cute.” Hooray for supporting Juan Carlos and Tico entrepreneurs!
🐍 We also took a few days to decompress, go offline, and connect with nature at a retreat hosted by Home Farm in the Diamante Valley and led by a Shipibo Shaman from Peru named Wilder, or Mokan Rono (Cosmic Serpent) in his native language.🌿
Getting to know Wilder was one of the trip highlights and we were excited to make the connection, meet other travelers, and see how these retreats are put into motion. It was a great example of the kind of retreat we’d like to host on our land someday as we eventually grow from cabin rentals to a boutique eco-retreat business.
What’s next? We’ll be in Costa Rica frequently for the rest of 2023, especially during the construction period that’s currently slated for this summer through December 2023/January 2024. We have an open invitation to anyone who wants to join us! Come learn how to use a machete, plant some trees, or participate in the construction process. But for real, if you want to come out at any point, please send us a text or email us at badweathercr@gmail.com and we’re happy to help you plan a trip.
Adios y hasta pronto,
JP y Emily
Great post! This project sounds so cool. My wife and I are definitely interested in visiting at some point after our current travel plans!
-Logan