Verticality. I am not entirely sure that is a word. My feeling is that yes, Michael, you are insulting the English language, but I will stick with it.

Verticality.

The one aspect of my home that gave me pause in the meetings with DZ, is the certainty of a view. I had one motto driving all of my dreams about this house: The View is King. There was a corollary motto of "Yehahahaahhahaaa weee!"; but again, that is likely not a motto but rather a responsive ululation.

The View is King.

Howie, my colorful Neighbor [editor's note: anyone more eccentric and/or louder that I am is "colorful". Howie was a really ebullient guy. I hope to find him when I go back down there and talk to him about our lands], has a view from his land that would make you stare. It made me stare. In my life, precisely two beach views have stopped me dead in my proverbial tracks. The view from Judge Vinson's condominium in Pensacola, and the view from Howie's house. I took pictures and posted the best one below, but it does not justice. You can see the long think white pencil line of sand snaking from Nosara Hotel all the way to the peninsula to the South, and all the blue of the pacific ocean that meets it. Amazing. You can see the Palm tree that is a good surfing landmark. You can see the waves crashing into the shore. Read again: you can see the waves crashing into the shore.

I am convinced I can get a reasonable facsimile of this view. The question is altitude. The mode is faith. The answer is research.

The proposals, as envisioned by DZ will get me a view of the ocean. What I think is possible is a view of the beach. There are questions to ask, but the most important is this: exactly how high above street level do I need to be to see the beach. From there I can do the calculations from the height of the house and see if this is possible. The problem is that the person I hired to clean the property did not cut the trees between me and the beach. Not that I want them all gone, but the suckers and the small underbrush that grows quickly and tall I need gone so that I can see what I have, and how high I must go. First order of business is clearing that path save for the hardwoods. The hardwoods I can but up, and see under. There are, of course, trees on Howie's property that might be obscuring my view. These I can do nothing about. There is, as I recall, a mini ridge between the flat of my land and the view.

I mentioned all of this to Guillermo and Sandra. They had already considered such an approach so much of the thinking had already been done. We talked about site orientation to bring me closer to the ridge line, and we talked about what brush might need to be removed. Finally they talked to me about approaches, challenges and ideas.

In both proposals, the vertical element would top the kitchen and the master bedroom, making the vertical element thee modules high. 3 high and 5 horizontal is a nice mix. Rain and Roof is the problem. Although Guillermo and I talked about a slanted roof there, he was certain that aesthetically the only way to make it work was a flat roof. I like how he thinks. he is right. He talked about a terrace on the top. I imagined the view from that terrace, and the idea stunned me. It would be like a tower, peering over the canopy of a Forrest. The mountains would drop away beneath you, and all of Nosara would be at your feet. Wow.

The problem is drainage. Guillermo said that in good conscience, he could not tell me that a flat roof would not leak. Oh, he said, for 5 years, maybe not, but eventually it would leak. I appreciate the honesty. I have a feeling another architect would have put it in. We went around and around on the idea, and Guillermo is currently working on it. he says: It has to be flat, but it cannot be flat. we talked about hiding a slanted roof under a flat hardwood deck, giving the appearance of a flat terrace. That could work. The question is, "at what angle" to clear the water in Guanacaste invierno?

Guillermo filled me with visions of it. he recommended a canvas roof, so that people underneath would be shielded from the sun, but it would be taken down when not in residence, in winds, or in rains. It would dry and could easily be replaced.

I will see proposals, or review discussions, of vertical elements, in a couple of weeks. First, we need that research, and Guillermo has proposed that the only way to do it right is to get some contractors on the site, while he is there, and telling them what he wants, and asking them if they can do it. Then, once they do it, it might be a trick getting images from different heights. Perhaps using the neighbor's property will work. Perhaps a ladder at street level. Perhaps climbing a tree. Perhaps it will not be needed at all. Still, I love the idea of a dedicated solarium, turned in adorment of the ocean.