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"Every house tells a story, and in Los Cabos, on the southern tip of Mexico\u2019s Baja peninsula, a pair of vacation homes stand side by side as a testament to a remarkable friendship\u2014the one that George Clooney shares with Rande Gerber and his wife, Cindy Crawford. The name of this compound, Casamigos\u2014or House of Friends\u2014says it all. \u201CWe\u2019ve been hanging out for 20-something years,\u201D says Gerber, a nightlife entrepreneur who now focuses on his tequila-and-rum company, Gerber Spirits. \u201CLong before the houses were built, we would travel to Baja together, staying at different hotels and drinking tequila.\u201D\n\nThe idea of planting a flag in Los Cabos came several years ago while the two men were there on vacation with a few friends. \u201CWe saw this oceanfront lot and thought maybe it made sense to build something,\u201D Gerber says. It was a desire fueled by wanting a place where family and friends could come together comfortably. \u201COnce we had kids, we would go on vacation at Christmas,\u201D says Crawford. \u201CBut you\u2019d have to book hotels a year in advance, and then you\u2019d get there and they never quite lived up to expectations.\u201D Plus, Los Cabos is a short flight from Los Angeles, making it a convenient getaway for Clooney, whose primary home is in Studio City, and for Crawford and Gerber, who live in Malibu most of the year with their school-age son and daughter.\n\nInitially the trio thought of creating one house large enough for everyone, but that concept was eventually nixed in favor of two independent structures. \u201CIt\u2019s just nice at the end of the night to have your own place to go back to,\u201D Gerber says. Even so, the houses are basically used as a single home, with overflow from one accommodated by the other, and meals and other activities frequently split between the two. \u201COur lives go back and forth,\u201D Crawford says. \u201CWe\u2019ll have cocktails at our place and dinner at George\u2019s, and vice versa.\u201D\n\nView Slideshow1 / 31A frangipani tree lends a verdant note to the couple\u2019s courtyard, which is furnished with teak tables and seating custom made by Jasper; the cushions are upholstered in a Ralph Lauren Home fabric, and the accent pillows are by John Robshaw. For details see November Sources.\n\nThe two homes were designed and built in tandem, and Clooney happily allowed Gerber and Crawford to take the lead on the project, knowing he could trust their taste implicitly. \u201CRande has this amazing eye for houses and style,\u201D says Clooney, who nonetheless was a regular presence at meetings and traveled to the site every couple of weeks to give input. \u201CI wanted something that would blend in,\u201D he notes, \u201Csomething indigenous that would feel in harmony with the setting.\u201D\n\nAnother priority, all agreed from the outset, was to avoid the type of hacienda-style villa commonly found along this coast and aim for something more distinctive. The group decided to approach the firm of Ricardo Legorreta, one of Mexico\u2019s preeminent architects, and his son, V\u00EDctor, a star in his own right. (Ricardo died in December 2011, two years after the project\u2019s completion, and V\u00EDctor maintains the practice.) \u201CA friend of ours had used Ricardo in California and loved working with him,\u201D Gerber says. Adds Crawford, \u201CThat property was the first modern house I thought I could live in.\u201D\n\nLike his celebrated mentor Luis Barrag\u00E1n, the elder Legorreta was known for crafting muscular geometric volumes where the interplay of light and shadow is created by large windows and doorways, as well as open-air courtyards. All of those elements are present in the Crawford-Gerber and Clooney residences, which the Legorretas tailored to suit the trio\u2019s relaxed, social lifestyle. \u201CThey wanted houses that were very elegant and almost like an art piece,\u201D says V\u00EDctor, \u201Cbut where you would still be comfortable walking around barefoot and in a swimsuit.\u201D\n\nEach structure is entered via a long hallway that flows gracefully into a dramatic double-height central courtyard, which connects to a series of sitting areas, dining spaces, an open kitchen, and, of course, a bar\u2014an especially roomy one at Clooney\u2019s, where the friends often assemble to watch sports on the wide-screen TV. And fronting the beach, each house has its own sizable swimming pool and terrace, as well as ample outdoor seating and dining areas. To soften and contrast with the residences\u2019 expanses of cement plaster, many of the spaces feature wood ceilings, beams, and brise-soleils. \u201CUsing wood was something we pushed for,\u201D Crawford says. \u201CIt\u2019s not the material the Legorretas are best known for, but we wanted the warmth.\u201D\n\nTucked away off broad corridors on the second stories are most of the homes\u2019 generously scaled bedrooms\u2014enough to accommodate the numerous guests. \u201CThere\u2019s nothing more depressing than being in a big old house by yourself,\u201D remarks Clooney. \u201CYou want it filled with friends and family because that\u2019s what makes a home.\u201D\n\nFor the most part, the dwellings keep to a palette of neutrals, with Clooney\u2019s being the darker and clubbier of the two. The tone of his residence starts with the sand-hued Brazilian quartzite that clads portions of the structure, and it\u2019s a vibe that carries through to the courtyard, where wood slats and a forest of dangling lanterns overhead cast moody shadows across the space, as well as to the terrace enclosed by privacy-ensuring vegetation. \u201CIf my house were truly open it would present too many opportunities for people to take pictures,\u201D says Clooney (who stars in the new sci-fi thriller Gravity and the upcoming World War II drama The Monuments Men, which he directed).\n\nThe Crawford-Gerber home, meanwhile, is brighter, thanks to a pale Spanish limestone and a courtyard that\u2019s fully exposed to the sky. So while the houses share a similar shape and aesthetic, each is its own unique creation. As Crawford puts it, \u201CThey\u2019re not twins, but more like sisters or cousins.\u201D\n\nA fair amount of the furniture is built in, as designed by the architects. Integrated tables and seating in the alfresco spaces are made from the same stones as the walls and floors, while bedroom cabinetry, closets, and desks are made from local parota wood. As for the freestanding pieces, Crawford and Gerber didn\u2019t hesitate to seek advice from interior decorators they know. \u201CFortunately we have a lot of great friends in the design world,\u201D Crawford says. \u201CWe just called on them to help fill things out.\u201D\n\nWhile many items\u2014the upholstered seating in the living areas, the director\u2019s chairs surrounding Crawford and Gerber\u2019s outdoor dining table\u2014were sourced in the U.S., certain key pieces were custom crafted locally, including Clooney\u2019s living room cocktail table and dining room table. The latter, incorporating a large lazy Susan, is a particular favorite of the actor\u2019s since, as he notes, \u201Cyou don\u2019t want to have to work too hard when you\u2019re down here.\u201D\n\nAs a kind of coda to the project, a year ago Clooney and Gerber, along with another friend, real-estate developer Mike Meldman, launched a premium tequila brand they call, appropriately, Casamigos. \u201CWe didn\u2019t just slap our names onto some glue and try to talk people into drinking it,\u201D Clooney says of Casamigos, which produces a blanco and a reposado and has already won a variety of awards. \u201CIt\u2019s what we drink whenever we\u2019re at the house.\u201D Or as Gerber puts it, \u201CThe best times are when all the bedrooms are filled with guests and everyone\u2019s by the pool with a Casamigos in their hand.\u201D It\u2019s an image that perfectly captures the open-armed spirit of this pair of breezy, sun-kissed getaways.\u00A0\n\nRELATED: See all of Architectural Digest\u2019s celebrity homes."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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