We are used to seeing painted wooden houses in cities or unpainted wood cabins in the forest, but rarely associated this natural material with complex and luxurious modern forms perched high and proud on a hillside. This marvelous mountain home is, therefore, an all the more exciting exception to design traditions.

The use of wood in this house (inside and on the exterior alike) by architects Jose Ulloa Davet + Delphine Ding serves to soften the huge volumes the compose the structure, a fine-grained pattern of variegated horizontal timber slats against a massive whole. Constructed from concrete, this same house shape with identical window and door placements would be a radically different design object.

As much as it is about the material and form, however, this house is also all about circulation, relaxation and amazing views from its mountaintop location. Starting with a walkway up the steep slope below (with patios to stop at and view from along the way) the structure culminates in an incredible rooftop deck design that wraps up on top of the house.