In this Daily: Breaking Ground on 5 Calle Virginia and What It Means for This Costa Rican Beach Town
The construction team broke ground on 5 Calle Virginia this week, which will be a three-story free standing home. This home, along with its neighbors 1 Calle Virginia and 3 Calle Virginia, bring a big impact in the neighborhood. Standing along Camino Las Catalinas, these homes will be some of the first homes that you see when arriving in Las Catalinas, and help signal that you have transitioned from driving along the coast of Guanacaste to arriving in a lively Costa Rican beach town.
With each new building, home, and structure, the frontier of construction pushes back and leaves behind a town that feels more full of life every day.
This new home will be located just after the split of Calle Cartagena and Calle Virginia, backing up against Camino Las Catalinas and standing proudly as one of the first markers that you’ve arrived in town. Comprising three floors set up against the hillside, 5 Calle Virginia will be on your left as you descend from Casa Chameleon, setting the urban edge of town and signaling the shift from tropical road to coastal beach town.
However, 5 Calle Virginia is not a traditional Main Street building, instead facing inward towards Calle Virginia and Beach Town and cleverly built to be sheltered from the road. While standing in this home, you won’t have any idea that you’re close to the street, maintaining the close-knit neighborhood feeling from throughout Beach Town.
The design of this home was done by Via Chicago Architects, a team dually based out of Chicago and Panama and longtime associates of Ricardo Arosemena. They’re a young firm that has indirectly helped with the design of homes in Las Catalinas before, and this is their first full home in town.
Two wings on the private floors united by the stairwell mean that everyone has their own space, but still feel a sense of togetherness. For the more social areas of the home, living rooms combine with an open air terrace to create indoor-outdoor living with expansive views out over town and the ocean.
It’s another home that adds to the complexity and character of Beach Town. Looking forward to seeing it come up.