House & Garden tours Christmas
By Jennifer Hamilton

House & Garden Tour
Sun, Dec 23, Noon
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
US$15 or 150 pesos
Breakfast at Café Santa Ana starting at 9am

The last House & Garden Tour before Christmas will be a gift you can give yourself. The two elegant and beautifully renovated houses on this week’s tour, both in the heart of San Miguel, will fill your head with visions of sugar plums, or at least have you revising your wish lists for Santa.



First house

This unobtrusive property is filled with wonders once one enters its unassuming portals— truly a gem hidden behind modest doors! Parts of the property are presumed to be 300 years old, and unconfirmed legend has it that it was once a monastery.

Eight years after purchasing it, the owners began renovation, including buying an adjoining property and incorporating its structure into the main house as a self-contained suite.

Everything in the house is stunningly elegant: incredible furnishings, artwork, old statuary, sensual bedrooms and a beautiful collection of fine porcelain and china.

In all, this property boasts 17 fireplaces and 23 rooms. Almost all the rooms have private patios, many with unobstructed views of San Miguel’s most impressive church domes.

The library/media area boasts an extraordinary collection of DVDs, a large flat-screen television and a music system that can be heard throughout the property by means of 40 unobtrusive speakers. Much of the gleaming mahogany furniture was brought from England. 

The kitchen is filled with stunning wooden cabinets, granite countertops, a professional stove and a separate breakfast room. Many rooms and hallways contain impressive collections of botanical prints as well as incomparable artwork from all over the world.

Terraces, gardens and rooftop patios are brimming with flowers, plants, vines and a plethora of fruit trees, including mandarins, oranges, lemons, peaches, apples, pears and other varieties. At the very top of the house the rooftop garden boasts a 360° vista over the town. The owners plan to make this property a boutique hotel early in 2008, so this is a one-time chance for House & Garden Tour visitors to see and appreciate such an elegant estate right in the heart of San Miguel. 

Second house

The home of Jim Watterson and George Martin is a magnificent example of colonial elegance, retaining much of its 300-year-old original construction (thick walls, ancient floor tiles and extraordinarily high ceilings) with an arched patio entrance and striking fountain in the center of a pebbled mosaic square.

Intertwining bougainvillea hugs the cantera columns. In the spacious sala, glass walls facing the patio afford the owners and their guests a feeling of living outside. 

Their collection of Mexican and Latin American statuary (featuring many representations of Saint Michael, including one with sterling silver wings) and art is impressive, and Far Eastern and Moroccan touches also adorn the property.

Eminent architect and designer Patsy Bubela, who has restored many of San Miguel’s most elegant and ancient colonial homes, created the beautiful library with its carved dark wood and antique mirror over the door. 

George rethought the basic outline of the house and changed dull and tired interiors, opening up all the spaces and rooms, adding contemporary art and furnishings and mixing them with authentic colonial art and antiques.

All five bedrooms in this home are completely different and utterly sensual and charming; one has a secret garden behind it. Most are topped with cupolas for extra light, as well as wooden shutters at the windows. A media room contains an impressive chandelier and carved wooden, gilded mirror. Copper pots hang from a chandelier in the new, spacious kitchen with its marble-topped island. The pool has a sunning area, and the Indian day bed is reflected in a mirror placed on its far side. One can see the age of the house in the ancient stone wall located on one side. One of the main changes that Jim and George made was to replace a slatted metal stairwell with one more solidly constructed of concrete, leading up to one of the largest rooftop gardens in downtown San Miguel. Filled with countless plants, roses, vines and olive trees, the ramada (indoor/outdoor entertainment area), with its sun
ning terrace and barbecue pit, create the perfect spot for an evening margarita while enjoying another stunning San Miguel sunset. The rooftop views are unsurpassed. Jim and George divide their time between San Miguel and Pasadena, California.

The House & Garden tour leaves the Biblioteca Pública each Sunday at noon to take guests through the doors of the most spectacular homes in San Miguel. All ticket sales support the Biblioteca’s community scholarship fund, which each year grants over 100 secondary, preparatory and university scholarships to qualified applicants. The front doors of the Biblioteca Pública at Insurgentes 25 open at 11am for ticket sales, but you can come to the Café Santa Ana at 9am for breakfast while you wait. No complimentary tickets are accepted for the Christmas tour!