Villa A
VILLA A
Carl Gerges Architects
ARCHITECTS
Carl Gerges Architects
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Aiem Engineering & Management
INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE
Stephanie Moussalem Design Studio
ARCHITECTURE/COMMUNICATION
Nicolas Salha
INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE/PROCUREMENT
Samar Kayrouz
ARCHITECTURE/MANAGEMENT
Shoghag Ohanessian, Joy Stephan
STRUCTURAL CONSULTING
Anthony Nader Civil Engineer
MEP CONSULTING
Face Contracting
LANDSCAPE CONSULTING
Atelier Hamra, Ramzi Mezher
MANUFACTURERS
Vitrocsa, Hitachi Air Conditioning, Dornbratch, Meljac, Mitsubishi, OLIVARI
STEEL MANUFACTURING
Simtec
LIGHTING CONSULTING
Atelier 33
PHOTOGRAPHS
Carl Gerges Architects
AREA
1500 m²
YEAR
2025
LOCATION
Faraiya, Lebanon
CATEGORY
Houses
English description provided by the architects.
INTRODUCTION
Villa A is a private residence located in the rocky mountains of Lebanon's winter town, Faraya.
Integrated with its topography, the building's modernist influences are apparent in clean horizontal lines and classical proportions that ebb and flow with the surroundings.
A restrained palette of materials, paired with an obsessive attention to detail, defines the house's identity: refined yet sumptuous.
Upon entering, the property unfolds across three levels: a stone-and-concrete entrance framed by massive wooden doors, landscaped roofs and courtyards, and a panoramic glass façade that seamlessly opens toward the pool, offering uninterrupted mountain views that take center stage.
The garden, photographed in full bloom, lends texture and seasonal color to the rocky surroundings.
From a distance, the landscaping preserves the home's monochrome impression, yet in spring – when flowers erupt after heavy snow – the rugged terrain softens, and irregular forms weave a quiet poetry against the house's restrained materiality.
INTEGRATION
Seen from afar, the three volumes of the house merge seamlessly with the ribbed concrete shell of the pool.
Large, thin aluminum windows vanish into the walls when opened, while massive wooden shutters close the house entirely during the off-season, their hand-cut panels adding warmth to the subdued palette.
The pool itself mirrors the house's columns, extending their rhythm across the water and emphasizing the cadence.
Elongated in form, the property withdraws into the background, letting the panorama take center stage: an exercise in silent sophistication and an invitation to meditative living through all four seasons.
MATERIAL LANGUAGE
The building materials are handled with craft and variety: stone from the exterior shell reappears in hand-cut tiles at the porch and pool, in mosaics across the floor, in smaller tessellations inside, and as gravel in the garden and roofs; echoing the mountain itself.
Concrete is ribbed and hand-finished, its surfaces recalling the fair-faced ceilings while reinforcing the home's linear rhythm, a cadence that crowns its edges with quiet strength.
Stone and concrete are stretched beyond convention, their experimental use enriching the property's visual fabric; once the possibilities revealed themselves, the owners embraced the process and found playful inspiration in adding textural depth to the house.
Executed by regional artisans, the materials root the project in local tradition while retaining a disciplined simplicity. The minimalist aesthetic acts as a bridge between construction and nature; an architecture that collaborates with the landscape rather than competing with it.
INTERIOR
Inside, the same material range is pushed further, with stone walls and concrete divisions paired with warm wood. With an abundance of light from the floor-to-ceiling glass doors and skylights, the house is constantly bathed in the shifting hues of the day, from warm to cool tones.
The interior is in perpetual dialogue with the outside world: the courtyard and its seasonal gardens, the pool and its liquid reflections, and the mountain facing it – veiled in ever-changing coats.
Yet the true climax is reserved for winter, when heavy snow descends in silence and crowns the house with its most magical scene, a pearlescent feast that crescendos as the mountains rise in altitude.
