House In A Garden is a single-family urban infill residence nestled within the lush, historic Coconut Grove neighborhood of Miami. Designed as a single-story dwelling, the home respects the scale and character of the surrounding Bahamian vernacular structures, weaving contemporary design into a richly layered historic context.

A generous full-width porch anchors the north elevation, extending a welcoming gesture to the street and creating an outdoor room that connects the house to the community. Inside, a central courtyard becomes the heart of the home—bringing light, greenery, and cross-ventilation into every occupied space. The result is a fluid relationship between interior and exterior, where daily life unfolds in dialogue with the garden.

Sustainability is fundamental to the project’s conception and construction. As the first mass timber building in Miami-Dade County, House In A Garden pioneers the use of regionally grown, renewable southern yellow pine cross-laminated timber (SYP-CLT). The design team collaborated closely with local building officials, planning, and zoning departments to introduce this emergent technology to South Florida. Through this process, the project contributed to new standards for material testing, product certification, and local code compliance—ultimately establishing a precedent for resilient, low-carbon construction in the region.

Organized around its courtyard, the home unfolds through a sequence of interior rooms and open-air gardens that blur the boundaries between built form and landscape. Visitors approach through a linear garden, passing beneath a gently shifting wood roof before arriving at the inner court. The spaces of the house wrap this garden, each room opening to filtered light and views of the surrounding tree canopy. Passive ventilation and daylighting strategies reinforce the home’s environmental responsiveness, creating a tranquil, climate-conscious retreat within the city.