How They Pulled It Off: Gold Kintsugi Fillings in the Cracked Floors of an Upstate New York Home

Welcome to How They Pulled It Off, where we take a close look at one particularly challenging aspect of a home design and get the nitty-gritty details about how it became a reality.

When architect Juan Jofre Lora founded his architecture firm, he chose the name Esmero—a Spanish word that roughly translates to "with utmost care." As he explains it, "that means being really thoughtful about materiality and how things are built." With a 95-acre property in the Hudson Valley that had a lone, unfinished carriage house, Jofre Lora found the ideal inaugural project to express that philosophy.

"The original owners worked for oil and gas company Esso, whose mascot was a tiger, and when they retired the tiger from their marketing campaigns, it lived in the carriage house," explains Jofre Lora of the upstate New York property’s storied origins. When his clients, a young couple, purchased the so-called Tiger House, he was able to salvage the original foundation and steel structure to turn it into a home.

For ease of maintenance, the couple decided on a concrete floor with radiant heat, and Jofre Lora suggested pouring it directly atop the existing slab. This saved money, but came with a tradeoff. "We all knew the concrete was going to crack, especially around the doors and in corners," says Jofre Lora. "But rather than be worried about the cracks, we decided to embrace them and make them a feature of the home."

Working with Hana Tajima and Colin Moore Bradley of design-build firm Maru Projects, Jofre Lora set out to highlight the cracks with a gold kintsugi detail. Traditionally used in Japanese pottery, kintsugi is a method of repairing cracks with a gold lacquer, showcasing rather than hiding a break. Translating this method to concrete floors was a process of trial and error, but in the end, added depth to the home’s character. "It’s a ‘tell-the-tale’ detail that helps communicate the story of this place," explains Jofre Lora. "When you’re inside and see these gold cracks, you feel encompassed by care."