Isay Weinfeld

Santo Amaro House was designed for a mature couple with grown-up children that no longer live in the house. It was built in quiet residential area in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The homemaker is an amateur piano player who enjoys gathering friends at home for intimate musical recitals. For that purpose, a wide room with high ceilings was designed to accommodate three Steinway pianos – including a concert-grand piano -, spacious enough for small musical ensembles, such as, for instance, duos, trios or quartets. That environment also features a winter garden receiving natural lighting through a glass roof.

The living room and dining room are separated by a low screen, and a sliding door separates the living area from the den, thus allowing the husband to read or watch a film without disturbing his wife during piano lessons.

A deck that externally surrounds the living and dining rooms and extends along the swimming pool can also be reached directly from the main bedroom.

Private quarters feature also two spacious guest suites, in order to accomodate the couple’s daughter and family, who live abroad but come visit often.

Service areas – garage, deposits, employees’ quarters, laundry, etc – were all set up on the ground floor.

The existence of three fully-formed Brazilian ebony trees defined the set-up of the building, as to preserve the trees: the dining room overlooks an atrium built around one of the trees; the volume of the house and the main deck, had their limits defined by the remaining two brazilian ebony trees.