Shawn Borton

City Finca

City Finca is our home in A Coruña. My wife, Sara, and I bought a house from the 1950s in the middle of the city and renovated it into our dream forever home.

Oak kitchen with a white island and three wooden stools

Living and kitchen

With about 350 square meters to work with, a lot of the project was about rethinking how the spaces flow together. Downstairs is now one open area for cooking, eating and hanging out, with warm wood cabinetry against soft, textured walls.

Living room with a green sofa and a corner fireplace
Built-in white wardrobes
Dining nook with a built-in bench
Wood kitchen cabinetry and counter

Bathrooms

The bathrooms stick to a small palette of microcement, natural stone and matte black fixtures. It keeps them calm and a little spa-like, which is exactly what we were going for.

Powder room with a stone sink
Black faucet over a stone basin
Stone sink under a round-cornered mirror
Microcement bathtub

Bedrooms and storage

Upstairs, built-in storage does a lot of the heavy lifting. Wardrobes, shelves and a small study are tucked into the walls, with the woods carefully matched so every room feels connected.

Stairs up to a small window
Built-in wardrobe in a bedroom
Study with a desk and a tall wood cabinet
Wood door catching the light
Bedroom seen past curved wood shelving
Curved wood shelving
White wardrobe next to the bed

Under the roof

Up under the roof, skylights pull light down into the main bedroom, a dressing room and a cozy office corner. The sloped ceilings made every bit of built-in storage count.

Office corner with a coffee station under a sloped ceiling
Skylight over a sloped plaster wall
Main bedroom under two skylights
Main bed under the skylights
Dressing room under a skylight
Black door handle in the afternoon light
Main bathroom seen through a wood doorway
Wall-mounted tap over a stone basin
Wood drawers and shoe shelves

Outside

Out back, the patio, outdoor kitchen and furniture are all polished concrete with exposed aggregate. The pool has a cover that keeps it safe and lets us get more out of the space.

To widen the driveway, the old 55 cm stone wall along one side was cut away and replaced with a slimmer 20 cm concrete one. It’s a small detail you’d never notice, but it made a big difference.

Driveway down to the wooden garage door
Two people leaning against the white wall and stone base outside the house
Concrete patio with a table and chairs
Outdoor kitchen under a railing
Brick, concrete and wood details by the outdoor fireplace
Close-up of exposed aggregate concrete
The pool behind the house
Autumn tree over the white wall
Leaves on the wood deck
The back of the house behind the hedges

Credits

City Finca
Creative Direction: Shawn Borton and Sara Couto Velasco
Dous de Vinte
Architecture
Incoga
General Contractor
Edu Covelo
Photography