Colorful Careyes

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The destination on the Jalisco coast is the ultimate convergence of art, design and nature

Arches are a motif echoed throughout Casa Nautilus, creating a sense of movement with light and shadow play. Photos by Petr Myska.

Careyes, Mexico is often touted as paradise. The tropical hamlet, which hugs an approximately six-mile-long stretch of the Pacific Ocean in Jalisco State dubbed Costalegre, indeed pairs a breathtaking coastline with architecture and design that taps into the sublime. The residential resort community is also intuitively calibrated to travelers in search of an off-the-beaten-path travel experience, where connections between a place and people flourish.

Soft curves, natural materials and surfaces that amplify the magic light at designer Sophie Harvey’s Casa Nautilus reflect the ever-evolving sensitive architecture and design ethos of Careyes in Mexico.
Photos by Petr Myska.

The fact that a Club Med once existed at all here seems like an odd blip. In 1968, unorthodox Italian expat Gianfranco Brignone left his native Turin to begin developing a pristine coastal stretch he spotted during a Cessna plane ride. He approached building incrementally, starting with the groundbreaking Casa Mi Ojo. Careyes was in many ways a spiritual calling. “Today we have a very organic community,” says his son, Filippo Brignone, whose Careyes base is the Tigre del Mar castle, where exploring its rooms and grounds feels like encountering an otherworldly merging of earth, sea, and sky. Ecological stewardship and local economic development efforts are also part of the Brignone family ethos; the Careyes Foundation, established in 2013, supports vital conservation, education and arts-programming efforts.

Pink tones continue in the updated kitchen, with a Wolf range, concrete countertop surfaces and bespoke geometrically patterned cement floor tiles Harvey designed in collaboration with La Perla Mosaico Artesanal near Guadalajara. Photos by Petr Myska.

Boldly colorful and idiosyncratic expressions of organic architecture abound. Many of the villas perched in the cliffs above the Pacific Ocean are organized around great palapas sheltered beneath thatched roofs that are supported by twisting branch columns. These spaces exude a certain ancient dynamism that engages with contemporary tastes. Indoor-outdoor living is a given. These soul-stirring structures give visitors—whether it’s intergenerational families, friends or couples—a setting to unwind and unplug. It’s a far cry from a generic one-size-fits-all hotel.

In the primary bedroom, vintage Georges Pelletier ceramic lamps that Harvey sourced from 1stDibs add quiet flair along with Mesón del Coco pillows and bench seat upholstery made in Uruapan, Mexico. Photos by Petr Myska.

“Authenticity dictates aesthetics,” Filippo Brignone observes. Careyes’s distinctive style originally hybridized coastal Mexican vernacular with Italian influences as envisioned by the elder Brignone along with notable architects such as Jean-Claude Galibert, Diego Villaseñor, Luis Barragán and Alberto Mazzoni. The templates inspire creatives to this day. Architectural and interior designer Sophie Harvey, a former California resident who now lives in Careyes and Mexico City, has a decades-long relationship with Careyes. She became so smitten she bought Casa Nautilus in 2006, many years after her first visit as a teenager from her native England. Her recent extensive remodel of this estate in the Rincon Development leans into subtle pink tones and honors the established visual vocabulary “but with some interesting twists,” she says. Selecting table lamps by French ceramic artist Georges Pelletier and classic 1972 Vallarta dining chairs by celebrated Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta demonstrates how her goal was “to not over-design it.”

Pebble wall tiles and mosaic floor tiles from Ann Sacks add subtle texture and color in the primary bathroom, along with an earthy limestone-topped vanity. Local millworkers fabricated the bespoke casework Harvey designed throughout Casa Nautilus.
Photos by Petr Myska.

Careyes boasts 65 deluxe villas available as vacation rentals, such as the showstopping Casa Torre, which contains multiple standalone bungalows and Dr. Seuss-like landscaped grounds designed by Eric Nagelmann, known for his work at Lotusland. The colorful Casitas, which Harvey describes as “the heart of Careyes,” are tiered on the bluff like an Amalfi Coast village with roomy interiors, while the relatively more hotel-like El Careyes Club & Residences has a sleeker aesthetic. (Accommodations are booked directly via careyes.com.)

Villas come with full staffing and concierge services that cover all needs, from ground transportation via Manzanillo or Puerto Vallarta airports to arranging chef-prepared meals. (Having access to a car helps get a full sense of Careyes and its landmarks, most notably the Copa del Sol concrete bowl that hovers on a bluff like a Brutalist spacecraft.) And because this is a highly social bunch, lingering typically unfolds over fresh, vibrant and leisurely meals and drinks at Lilo Beach Club, Punto Como, Playa Rosa lounge and Casa de Nada, often with live DJ sets. Wellness workshops, an annual spirited Chinese New Year celebration and the Ondalinda festival in the fall draw seekers and revelers too.

The dramatically sited palapa welcomes the outside in. The space features handmade Mesón del Coco custom pillows over Sunbrella cushions made by Guadalajara upholsterer Alejandro Valenciano on the built-in sofa, Dedon armchairs and ottomans, and Ricardo Legorreta’s Vallarta dining chairs around a custom dining table. Photos by Petr Myska.

Ultimately, the founder’s vision to nurture deep, holistic connections— fostered through art and design—remains ever-present. “We play a lot with forms. We frame nature when we can,” Filippo Brignone explains. “And mostly, we are nice. We bring people from all over the world.”