Sítio Rio Acima by Denis Joelsons

The sprawling Sítio Rio Acima property on the periphery of the town of Junidiaí in São Paulo has been in the same family for over 40 years. The Brazilian architect Denis Joelsons was commissioned with renovations at the site, and while conserving a number of older buildings had top priority, there was also a wish for understated but modern extensions.

New buildings in brickwork

The main focus was placed on the family's L-shaped home, a timber building now supplemented with a rectilinear extension in brick – a local material that had not been used at the property before and that now marks the interventions at the existing house. This originally had three bedrooms and two bathrooms, and while one of the bathrooms had to make way for a fourth bedroom within the old structure, two new ones have been created in a further extension at the rear of the house. 

The family's social spaces are the centrepiece of the enlarged main house, comprising the living room beneath the vaulted ceiling of the new section next to an open kitchen with a dining area. Here again the existing parts and additions are clearly distinguishable due to the differing materiality of the walls. The rough brick walls in the living room contrast the white-painted wooden panelling of the kitchen and dining area. A large clerestory window provides the interior with natural light.  

The bedrooms have French doors that lead out to the veranda with its wooden pergola. The terrace provides the family a clear view of their own lake and nearby swimming pool and kiosk. For this area the architect erected a new spiral-shaped brick structure containing a bathroom and a changing room. 

A bathroom and changing room for the swimming pool are contained in the spiral-shaped building. © Pedro Kok

Caretaker's house

At the main entrance to the property the caretaker's house is to be found on a lower level than the family home. The building, once a wooden house, had to be replaced. In the new-build, Denis Joelsons recalls the so-called „caipira“ architecture, a vernacular type of construction from the property's rural surroundings. The shady veranda between the new house's two volumes is an example of this style.