As a volcanic island, Saint Kitts has surprisingly varied terrain. Some regions within the 68-square-mile Caribbean locale are lush with tropical plants. Others are more arid, with large boulders forming rocky outcroppings whose elevation provides spectacular views of the sea and surroundings. At the site of one of those natural hills, New York City–based studio Architecture in Formation designed a 7,000-square-foot villa that not only takes advantage of its topography but is constructed with the rock that forms it.

“We thought about that quote by Frank Lloyd Wright that you never build at the top of the mountain, you build into it,” said architect Matthew Bremer, the founder of Architecture in Formation and 2023 president of AIA New York. “We wanted the house to really feel of this very particular place.” Thus, its 3-story massing is shaped by the land, appearing to grow from it rather than sit above it—an effort that required quite a bit of excavation. After 12 months of digging just to set the foundations, the construction team amassed a large collection of volcanic rocks. Some of these locally hewn stones remained on site and now clad the home’s lower-level facade, also making appearances on feature walls inside the three guest-suite bathroom showers as well as around the primary bedroom’s headboard. A trio of the site’s larger boulders flanks the living room sofa and marks a small level change, while others create retaining walls for the landscaping.

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