Everywhere you look inside the home architect Teresa Sarmiento designed for her family, you see the outdoors, walled in for privacy and landscaped lushly. The house itself is subdued, calming and compact.
It’s oh-so-comfortable like a boho home should be, but without anything to distract from those views, which follow you around the house, front to back, upstairs and down. For those of us sometimes parched by the desert of 21st century life, it is, indeed, a veritable oasis.
![]() |
Pompi Gutnisky photo |
The house itself is 105 square meters (1,130 square feet) of heaven on three floors. And that’s saying a lot, considering its location in the Caballito de Mar region of Benissa, the westernmost point on Spain’s Mediterranean coast, where the views are already pretty spectacular. Note the greenspace on ONE side of the living room, but there’s more.
![]() |
Pompi Gutnisky photo |
Much of the furniture in the home is by Net, a firm in which Teresa’s husband, Nicholas Tovo, also an architect, is a partner.
![]() |
Pompi Gutnisky photos |
Many of the objects populating shelves, tables and counters are from Sarmiento, a design workshop Teresa co-owns with her sister, Alejandra. In a true green spirit, all of Sarmiento’s pieces are executed using surplus wood from Net.
![]() |
Pompi Gutnisky photo |
I told you to wait for it: This is the view of the greenspace on the opposite side of the living room—equally soothing. The kitchen is just behind the paneled bar at right. But before we go there…
![]() |
Pompi Gutnisky photo |
…let’s go outside and look back in, across the living room to the other walled patio. Notice an upper level of greenery (more on that to come).
![]() |
Pompi Gutnisky photos |
If this were my house, I don’t think I’d ever budge from that chair. How ‘bout you?
![]() |
Pompi Gutnisky photo |
Here’s the kitchen, as promised. The classic lines of the Carrera marble mix well with the wood tones and greenery.
![]() |
Pompi Gutnisky photos |
The open-concept kitchen and living area take up all of the mid-level. Upstairs are three bedrooms, and downstairs is a workshop.
![]() |
Pompi Gutnisky photo |
Remember that upper storey of potted plants we saw from the patio? Here they are, just off the master suite.
![]() |
Pompi Gutnisky photos |
Textile art over the bed mimics the garden outside the sliding glass doors, while a wall of built-in storage keeps the family organized.
![]() |
Pompi Gutnisky photos |
The bathroom features more of the same wood tones and Carrara marble.
![]() |
Pompi Gutnisky photo |
In the basement level is a workshop Teresa uses for her Sarmiento brand objects, plus views of and access to another lushly landscaped, private outdoor space. As the wife of a woodworker, I confess this is the cleanest woodshop I’ve ever seen!
And I feel calmer just having taken this tour.
Want more?
- Continue your tour at Espacio Living. “A House Decorated with Iron and Wood” is in Spanish, but you can access a translation feature in Windows by opposite mouse-clicking on the text.
- Get BoHo Home posts sent directly to your inbox through one of the subscription services listed below, or follow my blog with Bloglovin.