Colonial Mexican Architecture Reimagined ~ Merida, Mexico (Yucatan)

First of all, I'd like to apologize as it's come to my attention that my Email

RSS feed has been coming out in a jumbled mess.  I am trying my best to

fix this.  It's been a bit tough since Google has no support for Feedburner. 

Please stick with me a bit longer.  

One of my favorite shows is House Hunters International on HGTV.  This is

because it combines two of my favorite favorite past times:  travel and

design.  In December, HGTV aired an episode in Merida, Mexico which

is on the Yucatan peninsula (opposite side of Cancun.)  I'd never heard

really heard of Merida before.  It's actually a city of about 1 million people.

However, what makes it uniqe is it's old colonial center of town and the

fact that it is only 30 minutes from the beach.  On the outside, these

homes look "poor and run down", but expats have been moving there

and taking these neglected and run down colonial homes and renovating

them.  The result is astounding.  My jaw literally dropped seeing the inside

of some of these renovated homes.  It actually has inspired my significant

other and I to plan an Easter trip to Merida to seriously consider buying

property there.  As it's our first time to Merida, of course we have to

evaulate if we like it first.

This home is a gorgous home that has been renovated. 

The plants and landscaping is also outstanding.

Because Merida has tropical weather, it's very

much so indoor and outdoor living at it's finest.

My parents are from Malaysia so I know very

well what the weather is like and the fact that

most homes are not "air tight" like our homes in

the states are.  But my parents certainly did not

have a home they grew up in like this!

The colonial homes in Merida very typically have

18-20 feet ceilings.  The expats have carried

over the concept of open living to create large

and spacious rooms that are dramatic in their

height alone.

The French and the Spanish brought over their influences

during the colonial era.  From the Spanish also came

Andalusian influences which is why many of the traditional

kitchen designs in Merida look Andalusian in nature.

Andalusia also has heavy Moorish influences in their

architecture - so it seems almost natural to incorporate

moorish elements in their design.  Isn't the bathroom

above fantastic?

Here is that kitchen I was talking about.

The kitchen follows the lines of traditional kitchens in

Merida yet incorporates modern finishes and pasta

tiles (you can see on the back splash) that are hand

made in the Yucatan.

You can see just a hint of the Moorish influence in the arch.

Because the Yucatan peninsual has tropical weather, they don't use

rugs there very much - instead they lay down these fantatsic pasta tiles

in all sorts of patterns to serve as a "rug."

The ceilings and the walls in this living area is very traditional.

Isn't the paint job fantastic?  Do you notice the high walls to the left in this

photo?  All of the colonial homes have very high walls so even though the

living space is so open, there is no concern about privacy unless you live

next to a building even higher than yours ^_^

I'm totally drooling over this long wooden table and view. 

What a place this would be to live in!

Hope you enjoyed feasting your eyes on this home as

much as I did.  I'll be showing more homes in Merida

later on.

If any of you are interested, a reputable real estate agency

in Merida is Mexico International.  Eric Partney is an agent

there who is very knowledgable (and was the real estate

agent in the House Hunters International episode.)