Villa Serennia: Layered Terraces Shape a Calm Hillside Retreat Haven
Villa Serennia sits in Masal, Iran, a house by Padideh Kohan Boom that leans into broad horizontals, open rooms, and water’s steady calm. The project arranges life across three levels with terraces, balconies, and an infinity pool, drawing daylight deep inside while staying close to the landscape. It reads quiet and deliberate. Each floor sets a different pace, moving from communal life to private retreat with a measured, contemporary sensibility.
Low slabs meet the horizon, and the pool holds the sky. Light threads through glass and over water before settling across deep terraces and quiet rooms.
This is a house in Masal, Iran, designed by Padideh Kohan Boom for daily living that moves between gathering and retreat. The plan works in sequences—wide rooms, long balconies, and a penthouse-level terrace—so circulation always meets air, view, and shade. It favors clean lines and measured thresholds over spectacle.
Arrive And Unfold
Entry stays grounded, then opens to water and sky in one sweep. From the garden, sliding glass pulls back to an open living and dining room where daylight runs long across the floor, and the view anchors orientation before a turn brings you toward the pool’s edge (a quiet pause before you move again).
Rooms Around Water
Life gathers by the ground-level pool, with the garden and terrace reading as one room. The living area aligns with the pool’s long axis, so conversation, breeze, and reflections move together, while overhangs cool the perimeter and keep glare off the glass during the brightest hours.
Balconies As Thresholds
Upper floors trade open lawn for wraparound balconies that let each room step outside. Family lounges and guest suites open to these outdoor galleries, turning circulation into a loop that catches cross-ventilation and holds the tree line at eye level as you walk.
Levels In Motion
Three tiers structure the day: social ground floor, shared middle, private top. Movement rises from gatherings to quiet, culminating in the penthouse suite where a meditation terrace frames long views over treetops and water—an everyday ritual in first light and dusk.
Light, Shade, Air
Deep overhangs set the building’s rhythm and temper solar gain without closing down the outlook. Double-skin glazing holds warmth when needed while staying visually light, and planned openings draw breezes through the plan so rooms breathe without mechanical fuss (simple moves, strong effect).
Terraces That Work
Planted edges soften edges and stabilize a small microclimate around the house. Rain slips from broad roofs into storage for irrigation and pool top-ups, while greywater loops back into the landscape in a tight, efficient cycle that reinforces daily use.
Evening returns the house to reflection, with the pool mirroring a darker sky. Steps slow, doors slide, and the terraces hold a last trace of warmth before night settles. The plan stays calm; the sequence carries the day.
Photography courtesy of Padideh Kohan Boom
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