House & Garden Tour Sun, Mar 1, tour departs at noon Biblioteca Pública Insurgentes 25 US$15 or 150 pesos Breakfast at Café Santa Ana starts at 9am

House & Garden Tour 
By Jennifer Hamilton

Scrumptious country brunches, Lost and Found in Mexico

1. All sanmiguelenses know Patsy’s Place, and its perfect countryside Sunday brunch! After living in Mexico City for 25 years, Patsy threw in the towel after working for other people and purchased this bucolic property where she could live and cook, her passion for years. Originally the acreage contained only the small house which she built in 1994—no trees, no plants, nothing. In 2003, she added the capacious kitchen with its protected outside dining space wrapped around two sides of the area, a bar and barbecue, and an attached casita. Behind the kitchen is a greenhouse for fresh herbs. Brightly painted with large tragaluces (glass ceiling bricks), the kitchen is spacious and cheerful, with an oversized island which she uses for big-time entertaining and Mexican cooking classes, plus Cuisinarts, pots, pans, and all her beloved kitchen paraphernalia. Work by San Miguel artists is interspersed through a collection of fun folk art and antiques. In 2007, she added her own house a few yards from the kitchen and planted more succulents, herbs, fruits, vegetables, cacti, flowers, olives and lavender. Gently curvaceous pathways lead visitors through the gardens and buildings which are softly lit at night. Always a work in progress, she then built the Pavilion, ideal for parties or meetings. Never one to rest on her laurels, in 2008, Patsy partnered with a local veterinarian who is raising sheep behind the original small house (San Miguel finally will sell fresh lamb) and most certainly Patsy will be serving it at her scrumptious brunches.

In 2009, she plans to add an open firepit near the Pavilion. Her five dogs romp through the open country, while the two cats, Linda and Tiger, nestle in Patsy’s colorful bedroom. What will come in 2010? Only Patsy knows! Stay tuned….

2. When these homeowners arrived in San Miguel a few years ago to see what it was like, they ended up not only living here but building an incredible home. The property had 14 bedrooms when they first saw it—70 pesos a night to sleep in one of the concrete beds (one remains untouched but spruced up on the left side of the garden) with the back wall containing 18 showers for 10 pesos per person! Now magnificently renovated, they designed the property themselves and the result is this large, elegant home on three levels. The first-floor bedrooms, all self-contained with hidden kitchens, face onto a garden designed by Alfonso Alarcón. The arches are all made from local cantera stone, and furniture and tinwork was made locally. The indoor/outdoor living room on the second floor looks down into the garden and leads into a warm, intimate living and dining area done in lush yet subdued colors and containing many fine examples of Mexican folk art. The bóveda ceiling is one of the largest built in San Miguel and adds warmth and depth. In the den the overstuffed sofas and bookcases are all built in and made of concrete. 

The master bedroom suite on the third level has views of San Miguel’s downtown church domes. Recently one of these homeowners directed the award-winning documentary Lost and Found in Mexico. Filmed entirely in San Miguel, it is shown regularly in the Biblioteca’s Teatro Santa Ana.

The House & Garden Tour thanks the following for opening their beautiful homes On Sunday, February 22, 2009

Sylvia & Richard Trumbull
David Areingdale
Lothar Müeller

4th Sunday in February for 2008
314 visitors on tour 

4th Sunday in February for 2009
343 visitors on tour

Year to Date 2008 
2,431 visitors on tour 

Year to Date 2009
2,088 visitors on tour