House & Garden Tour
Sun, Mar 8, 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

Grassy knoll overlooks the lake, special sensually shaped sofa

1. This home sits atop a grassy knoll overlooking the distant lake, farmlands and mountains. Visitors enter through the ancient door by way of a gravel pathway and are immediately inspired by the high barrel bóveda (vaulted) ceilings of the living and dining rooms, with light pouring in from the French doors on one side.

The outside loggia is spacious with seating areas for entertaining and eating, and are protected from the afternoon sun by swathes of fabric. A carved wood bar and a sizeable grill provide an idyllic spot for outdoor barbecuing, entertaining and watching San Miguel’s awesome sunsets. Flowers add color on the balustrade. Elegantly furnished with stylish, comfortable seating areas, colorful rugs, softly hued walls and tasteful artwork, the house was built by local architect Nicole Biscaard and landscaped by Rob Johnson. A library is filled with light and a brightly colored carpet, abundant with books and family photographs as well as a flat screen television and fireplace. The kitchen, with a smaller bóveda ceiling, is a gourmet’s delight, with its wood island and gadgets—these homeowners just love to cook and entertain. A short staircase with its impressive painting by local artist by Delphine Scott, who is legendary amongst sanmiguelenses for her “faceless people,” leads to the master suite with its French doors, a dramatic carved cabinet from India containing a media center, brick fireplace and romantic bed. His and Her bathrooms with stone walls are spacious, filled with light, and have sizeable showers and impressive walk-in closets and dressing rooms. A cross on a nearby hilltop can be seen from the Jacuzzi. 

2. This homeowner bought a run-down tienda and changed it into a light-filled, charming Bed & Breakfast just steps from the Jardín. On the right is the modern kitchen filled with colorful pottery, artwork, papier-mâché chickens, a copper hood over the stove and two countertops.

A bar on the right side of the entranceway is topped by a Hollis Jack painting. An office/library has a trundle bed, a collection of hats and wooden shutters, with an attached, modern bathroom of cemento pulido (polished cement). The captivating patio with its cantera columns and wood beams contains a fish fountain. A long dining room with its chandelier and rectangular table contains another Hollis painting and continues into a subtle seating area with its specially made, sensually shaped sofa and dramatic mirror against a stone wall. The sala is also an entertainment room with its priest’s vestments on the wall and a nicho containing an eye-catching sculpture lit from above. 

Curving stairs with arced ironwork lead upstairs to three guest suites. Many light fixtures are shaped like pineapples. The canales (water spouts) represent gargoyles and were designed as light fixtures on the outside stairwell. The roof deck offers views of most main church domes.

The House & Garden Tour thanks the following for opening their beautiful homes on Sunday, March 1, 2009


Patsy Dubois
Caren & Dave Cross

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 1st Sunday in March for 2008 351 visitors on tour 
1st Sunday in March for 2009 183 visitors on tour

Year to Date 2008 2,782 visitors on tour 
Year to Date 2009 2,271 visitors on tour 

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