A house without walls.

A Costa Rica Treehouse (without walls).


Today I read an article in the New York Times about a strange house near Prague that has sloping floors like you would see in a movie theatre. www.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/greathomesanddestinations/12location.html

That reminded me of a place that we love to visit for a few days now and then near a semi-active volcano in Costa Rica. It’s a mountain overnight stay near the national park with an enchanting rustic atmosphere and is called the Rinconcito Lodge  www.rinconcitolodge.com To go there we drive in a back way through the nearby city of Liberia.

During our earlier visits there we ate some meals in their original restaurant which was wide open on three sides with the kitchen on the fourth. During the initial meal, I had noticed my chair would gradually and oddly slip away from the dinner table. I then noticed the smooth concrete floor actually had a gentle slope to it.

Upon inquiring as to why the slope was in the floor, the waiter smiled broadly and then began his story: “This building used to be a pigsty. The slope was to assist with runoff and ease for shovelling waste material towards a nearby lower lying area which now sprouted grass and bamboo. From that spot, a plastic tube ran back up the hill transporting methane gas to the kitchen where it was used to cook meals.” How ingenious!

And also ingenious is our unique mountainside treehouse, over near the Pacific coast of Costa – it has no walls – at least not in the living room or kitchen. It’s open to the surrounding forest and fresh air. The bedrooms however are enclosed with ceiling-to-floor glass. The top floor, or meditation deck, is wide open and provides a spectacular ocean and valley view. http://www.junglavista.com/

We absolutely love it there.