A Santiago Couple Build Four Cabins—and a New Life—in Chile’s Lakes District

Gabriel Granda and his wife, Pamela, were in search of a different life. The engineer and psychologist lived in Santiago, Chile, and they felt exhausted from the give-and-take of sorting through work while carving out time for their private lives.

“We both had highly demanding and time-consuming jobs,” Gabriel says. “When our first child was born, we started looking for a place where we could raise a family in contact with nature.”

In 2014, the couple moved to Puerto Varas, which is set within the lush forests of Chile’s Lakes Region, and began a new chapter at a slower pace. Four years later, with two kids in tow, Gabriel and Pamela were standing on the banks of the nearby Maullín River when they realized something simple yet significant: They wanted other people to experience the lives they felt privileged enough to have.

“The Maullín River is a protected area and a natural sanctuary, home to several bird species,” Gabriel says. “We fell in love with its purity, silence, and surroundings.”