The Cormorant Beach House was born out of a vague fantasy, one that stems from the idea of sharing this place that has seen three generations of my family grow up. It has become an island that crosses my history and that of my family, but that also has an international reputation for its beauty and particular biodiversity. A place where we have somehow been able to coexist in relative calm, human and non-human, respecting each other equally.

How did we get here? Why did we come? Why did we stay?

These are three questions that have plagued my mind and my memory forever, and which I feel are also parallel starting points with our non-human co-belongers. In the end, the story of evolution and species resembles the one my grandparents told me: we came by chance, we stayed because we couldn’t go back. We adapted.

We made Puerto Villamil our home, we collaborated and now we want to preserve. Preserve because our memories and existences are inevitably intertwined with this island. Because it has been a part of it since I was born and because those with whom we began to live and welcomed us are vulnerable now and need us. That is why the Cormorant Beach House was born, with its desire to be a refuge, which seeks to connect visitors and newcomers with the particular magic of our beloved island.

And with the Cormorant in particular. Because there is no way his existence is not interwoven with mine. With the memory of his deep turquoise eyes and small wings in the middle of a white sandy beach, with that look that can perfectly emulate the color of the sea when the sun is at its highest and most incandescent. Neither ostentatious nor majestic, just being. Perfectly condensing the story of all of us who came to these shores: we were from somewhere else, and now this is our home. We adapted to be here, and now we claim our right to stay and care.

José Coque, Founder