"Thank your dear mother and Rufus for their letters. I hope for Minnie a neck without a crick, and a lot without a crook, if one may be so jinglesome.

I need this done by closing time. — No worries, I'll have it sorted.

Casillas's design, which was implemented in Australia by Evolva Architects, also contrasts the exposed concrete interior walls with inbuilt wooden furniture, white plasterboard and soaped douglas fir solid-wood floors that add warmth to the space. Colourful paintings by Chucho Reyes offset the fields of grey concrete and white walls, as does Casillas' signature yet judicious use of Mexican pink in surprising places.

The design of his house incorporates a spiral staircase.