When National Geographic photographer John Dessarzin set out to design his personal sanctuary in Costa Rica, he created something extraordinary: a brutalist concrete fortress that frames the jungle like a permanent camera viewfinder. The 2017 residence, perched on a cliff overlooking a protected bird sanctuary in Atenas, Costa Rica's Central Valley, represents a bold departure from the neoclassical architecture that dominates the region. Now listed for $2.195 million as Dessarzin relocates to Portugal, the property stands as a unique example of how photographic composition can dictate architectural form.
Dessarzin collaborated with renowned Costa Rican architect Jaime Rouillon to create this cantilevered complex, which includes a two-bedroom main house and three separate guest villas. The design philosophy centers on raw materiality and seismic resilience, rejecting decorative flourishes in favor of exposed concrete, industrial glass, and steel. There are no visible neighbors, no tropical vernacular elements, and no concessions to conventional luxury aesthetics. Instead, the architecture isolates and amplifies the natural landscape, creating an unfiltered connection to the jungle's sights and sounds.
Rouillon's design philosophy emphasizes honesty to materials, resulting in a building constructed entirely without wood – only poured concrete, metals, and glass. This wasn't purely an aesthetic choice but a practical response to Costa Rica's location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where seismic activity demands exceptional structural integrity. Shear walls anchor the main house to the cliff face, distributing lateral forces through a foundation designed to absorb rather than resist earthquake movement. The cantilevered upper level, housing the primary living space and infinity pool, appears to float above the slope without seeming precarious.
Rouillon, whose portfolio includes luxury custom residences like Casa Val and Casa Las Olas, brings a postmodern sensibility to Costa Rican site conditions. His approach fuses horizontal elements with floating roof planes, creating compositions that read more like sculptural objects than traditional shelters. In Dessarzin's compound, this manifests as stacked volumes that step down the hillside, with each level offering unobstructed views toward the Central Valley. The exposed concrete weathers naturally, accumulating stains and patina that reinforce the material's permanence rather than diminishing its appeal.
The textural contrast between raw concrete and industrial glazing establishes the building's visual language without any mediating elements such as stucco cladding, painted surfaces, or decorative screens. Every material performs its structural role without cosmetic enhancement, creating a result that feels more like infrastructure repurposed for habitation than a conventional residence. This aligns perfectly with Dessarzin's stated goal of creating a space that prioritizes utility and sensory immersion over comfort signaling.
What distinguishes Rouillon's execution is his remarkable restraint. While brutalism often becomes oppressively heavy, this design maintains lightness through careful proportion and transparency. Expansive glass sections dissolve boundaries between interior and exterior spaces while keeping the concrete frame clearly visible and structurally legible. The spatial choreography unfolds across multiple elevation levels, with the main house organizing two bedrooms in distinct vertical zones: an upstairs primary suite and a downstairs guest suite, plus a dedicated office studio that once served Dessarzin's photography practice.
The upper level opens onto a patio and infinity pool, both positioned to eliminate sight lines to neighboring properties while maximizing connection to the bird sanctuary. Circulation between levels feels deliberate and choreographed, with each transition offering reframed views of the forest canopy and valley below. The spatial logic prioritizes controlled exposure, maintaining complete seclusion from surrounding development while providing immersive access to the protected natural environment.
Dessarzin added three guest villas to support Airbnb rental operations: a three-bedroom, two-bathroom unit designed for families, a studio villa with en-suite bathroom for couples, and a compact one-bedroom casita at the entrance for solo travelers. These villas operate independently from the main house, distributed across the hillside to preserve privacy while sharing access to the broader landscape. This fragmentation – separating program elements into discrete volumes rather than consolidating under a single roof – amplifies the sense of inhabiting terrain rather than simply occupying a building.
Dessarzin's National Geographic background permeates every aspect of the spatial organization. Every major window functions as a precise framing device, isolating specific landscape elements such as particular tree canopies, slices of valley, or sections of sky with the precision of a telephoto lens. The infinity pool acts as a foreground element that extends the visual plane toward the horizon, employing techniques borrowed directly from photographic composition where layered depth creates dimensional impact.
The prioritization of natural light follows strict photographic logic throughout the residence. Morning sun illuminates the primary suite while afternoon light floods the upper living area and pool terrace. Dessarzin positioned all glazing to capture specific solar angles throughout the year, treating daylight as a variable input that changes each space's character across seasons. Shadows from the concrete structure migrate across interior surfaces, creating time-based patterns that wouldn't exist in a conventionally finished building.
Dessarzin describes the surrounding homes as "nothing special," a dismissal rooted in their reliance on neoclassical templates that ignore site-specific conditions. His residence rejects imported architectural vocabulary entirely, opting for a design language that foregrounds geology, climate, and ecological context. The contrast with neighbors is stark – where they deploy columns and arches, Dessarzin's compound presents unadorned planes and dramatic cantilevers. It's an architectural critique delivered through form rather than rhetoric, arguing that true luxury in this setting means unmediated access to landscape, not decorative reassurance.
Atenas attracts expatriates from the United States, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands, drawn by its climate, cost of living, and proximity to San José's international airport (40 minutes away) and Pacific beaches (one hour away). Dessarzin's decision to sell reflects rising operational costs and the complex demands of managing Airbnb rental properties. The compound functions simultaneously as personal retreat and commercial business, roles that don't always align smoothly.
Maintenance for an all-concrete structure in tropical humidity requires specialized attention, and the remote location limits access to qualified service providers. The $2.195 million asking price positions the compound within Costa Rica's luxury real estate market, where architectural distinction commands significant premiums. For design-focused buyers, the property offers a rare synthesis of earthquake-proof engineering, authentic brutalist materiality, and immersive access to protected nature.
The trade-off, however, is operational complexity and aesthetic uncompromising. This isn't a turnkey residence that adapts easily to diverse tastes or conventional expectations. Instead, it represents a fixed architectural statement that rewards occupants who either share Dessarzin's specific priorities or are willing to engage the architecture entirely on its own uncompromising terms. As the property transitions from lived project to market commodity, it raises broader questions about whether architecture this specifically calibrated to one person's vision can maintain its integrity under different ownership.
