Villa Monte Reserve

In 2008 we embarked on a journey to Argentina in search of a place to build our house, immerse ourselves in raw nature, live off the land and ultimately share it with others. After two years of exploring the spectacular country and its rich diversity, we discovered an area that had everything we were looking for and more! At this time our first son was born and the three of us headed to the subtropical northwestern region of the country to begin what we consider a project of a lifetime.

From design to clearing land, to bringing water to the site from a natural spring, we put our dream into motion. We were fortunate to find a great crew of people from the surrounding area to help us. Together we dragged out old hardwood fallen logs from deep within the forest, hand cut adobe bricks, learned about the culture and community and developed friendships.

Over time we became aware of the great ecological importance of the forest, its unique orientation in the area, its abundant water supply and the history of anthropogenic actions. This was the catalyst to designate the land for conservation and declared it a private nature reserve.

Villa Monte Reserve is an active natural reserve where we experiment, study, generate small-scale sustainable models and create learning experiences through workshops, internships and volunteer positions.