House & Garden Tour
By Jennifer Hamilton
December 26, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Serene trickling waterfalls, an embedded wood-carved San Miguel

House & Garden Tour Sun, Dec 27, tour departs at noon Biblioteca Pública Insurgentes 25 US$15 or 150 pesos Breakfast at Café Santa Ana starts at 9am

1. Spread over 20 acres of land, this bucolic riverside property was built in the early nineties when it was an overgrown wilderness and deep gorge along the Rio Laja. A resort by design, it was built out of adobe and rocks, with many of the buildings sporting extra-thick, Huasteca-style palapa roofs. The main salon is enclosed by a vast ceiling with awe-inspiring cedar trunks used as support systems. 

The bedrooms are separate residences designed for maximum privacy with incredible vistas of the river gorge.

 Along a steep cliff where the property drops into the river, a second level was cut to create a separate living level where the owner built an alluring master bedroom suite with mesquite wood floors, bamboo ceiling and Ofuro bathtub-steam room, inspired by the simplicity of Japanese country inns. A grotto behind the master suite contains fish, ferns, lilies and trickling waterfalls cascading serenely. Alfalfa fields surrounding the property feed trail horses, burros, chickens, goats, ducks and an ostrich. 

The horses romp in the sandy riverbed the property adjoins. A lap pool, heated by the natural geothermal water of Atotonilco, can be entered directly from a small heated changing-room casita.

The pool stays naturally at 90°F. Next to the pool, a rounded gazebo is used for outdoor relaxation, cocktail parties and croquet games. Stables, animal pens and a large greenhouse for organic vegetables are below the residential buildings.


2. Built in the forties and remodeled in the early seventies, this home was transformed in 2008 by the owners of Artesana Rosewood Residences and Bald Mountain Development, who are currently building a gated five-star resort community on calle Nueva behind Instituto Allende. 

Ancient photographs of San Miguel hang on the wall of the entranceway; directly to the left, an arresting wood-carved San Miguel is embedded into the wall. The sala is skillfully appointed with antique wood Santos inside lighted nichos. Large glass doors open out to the entertainment area facing the gardens, fountains and pool.

Another outdoor seating area rests below. The library, a relaxing area of dark bookshelves, is next to the softly hued dining room decorated with yellow leather chairs with an oversized mirror reflecting the garden behind it. 

The gourmet’s dream kitchen has a professional Viking stove, a coat of arms on the hood over it, and blue and white pots in the windows. An outside stairwell leads to an impressive office/studio, with a framed matador’s jacket on the wall.

Candles surround an oval cement bathtub in the new bathroom. In the master bedroom are a glistening four-poster bed filled with pillows, ceilings inlaid with wood beams and beautiful lamps placed on each side of the bed facing the fireplace. 

An antique gold and silver priest’s vestment hangs over the side of the stairwell. The three-level garden leads through lush foliage and pathways to the pool and a small casita/office. Rachel Horn, San Miguel’s most sought-after interior designer, decorated the entire house. It’s currently the showcase home for Artesana, whose properties should be completed by 2010.