Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1528557
61 In 2 0 1 5 , a rc h i t e c t Mauricio Lobeira had a choice to make: "I had in my mind that I would either build a house or buy an apartment in Monterrey," he says of his hometown in the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico. Lobeira, Gonzalo Bueno, and Victoria Rubíes co-founded the architecture and design firm Ten Plus Three, which has offices in Monterrey and Dallas, where his son is a business major at SMU. One day while meeting a client in Monterrey's elegant San Pedro Garza García enclave, Lobeira spotted an unbuilt lot with magnificent trees and a rippling stream. "I was mesmerized; something like this is very rare in Monterrey," he says. Finding the entrance gate locked, he climbed over to get a better look. The terrain was sloped and oddly configured, but it was bordered by a forested park, an outgrowth of a nearby ecological reserve in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range. The spectacular view seemed to blend with the property, making it appear much larger and more lush. "I was super, super in love with all of it," Lobeira says. After doing some research, he discovered the land was owned by an old friend of his father, who agreed to sell. The land was the perfect spot for Lobeira to build a house for his family — he has two children from a previous marriage and a life partner, Mauricio de la Garza — but it was a risky time to put down roots in Mexico. Volatile elections that summer had created an uncertain political climate, so the couple Ten Plus Three architect Mauricio Lobeira and his partner, landscape architect Mauricio de la Garza, designed an exceptional house and gardens that blend seamlessly into the lush Sierra Madre Oriental mountains of Monterrey, Mexico. proceeded with the house slowly and in stages, over many years. De la Garza, who is founder and head designer of the landscape architecture firm Dornato, began work on the gardens and hardscape first, a project that took 11 months. The gardens embrace the idea of borrowed scenery — or shakkei, an ancient Sculpture by Austrian artist Gerda Gruber. Ancient Aztec stelae inspired the pattern for the exterior's carved Mexican limestone. A Beatriz Zamora painting anchors a corner of the living area, with a Walter Knoll sofa, De La Espada Windsor chair, pair of American Leather chairs, Poliform coffee table from Scott + Cooner. Vintage theater floor lamp from Paul Bert Serpette, Paris. Élitis wallpaper from George Cameron Nash. Rug custom-designed by Ten Plus Three.