gallery

Rancho San Benito: Building Our House in Mexico

A Work in Progress, 2005 - Present

The following are photos of the property known as Rancho San Benito located just outside the town of San Miguel de Allende, in the state of Guanajuato,Mexico. Getting to know the characteristics of our raw and undeveloped land, designing our house and learning how to build 'green' will be a years long project. The text and photographs in this gallery are a diary of our ongoing experience.  In May 2008, our house project was featured on page 28 of the magazine Inside Mexico.

Paige on the terrace, Late June 2008
The most current photos of the house are first. The diary then jumps back to 2005 so you can see all photographs of the project in chronological order.

East Side, Late June 2008

Concrete Color Tests, Late June 2008

Mixing Cement Colors, June 2008
We have just started mixing colors for the cement floors, kitchen counter and bathroom sinks.  We are going to experiment with pigments until we get our color choices refined and then we will make some tests using concrete molds.

Roof is on- North East View, June 2008

Roof is on - East View, June 2008

Roof is on - West View, June 2008

Front View from our road, May 2008

East Corner from driveway, May 2008
You can get a good sense of the roof line seeing the first half of the roof installed - imagine it with a span coming over the front of the house- like butterfly wings.

View of East Side, May 2008
You are looking at the East side of the house -- moving from left to right and bottom to top are: the front entrance to Barb's studio, the driveway & rooms for solar equipment, and the stairs going up to the house. Above the driveway/solar storage area are the windows in the master bathroom and to the left of those is the bedroom window and terrace (above Barb's studio).

South East Corner, May 2008
From this corner looking West, you can see the window in Barb's studio (the door faces East), the exercise/spare room doorway and bathroom window and at the end, the doorway and window to Paige's studio.

View from inside B's studio, May 2008

Lower Level, Backside of House, May 2008

South West Corner, May 2008
This rounded shape is a cistern to hold rain water. Above, on the terrace is an eye shaped water feature that catches the water (and is an excellent pool for the dogs).

West Side, May 2008

North West Corner, May 2008
From this angle you can see the exterior of the guest bath, room and terrace.

Front Entrance, May 2008
We have just circled the exterior of the house and are now going thru the front entrace to the interior.

Living Room View South, May 2008
There will be sliding glass doors leading out to the terrace.

Dining Room Looking West, May 2008
We have taken one step up from the living room and are looking at this view from the dining room.  Looking across to the living room wall you will notice a place for the television and underneath a fireplace. To the left of these will be a very tall window. All of the windows will be double glass, UV filtered and tinted (it won't look like a tint --we realized if we didn't do something we would need to wear sunglasses inside!) You can also see in this photo the eye shaped water feature for water catchment.

Living Room towards Dining Room, May 2008
Paige is back in the living room and from this view you can see the large window in the dining room.

In Kitchen Looking West, May 2008
Walking  a step up and out of the living room we are now basically in the kitchen area. You can see the close relationship between the kitchen, dining room (which will also function as a library with floor to ceiling shelves for books) and the living room.  The wall you see is a structural wall and also good for art.

Kitchen and Pantry, May 2008
Moving toward the Northeast corner of the house, you can see the Kitchen window (out the window is a view of our casita up the hill - for more on that scroll to August 2007), and to the right is the pantry and behind the pantry is a utility room.  If you look again at the exterior- the first photo titled: Front View From Our Road - you can see there is also a second entrance to the house off the utility room.

Stairs to Bedroom and Lower Level, May 2008
To the left is the pantry again and what you are seeing in this photo is the stairway from which you access the master bedroom and bath and if you continue down the stairs you will be at the driveway and solar storage area.  In addition to the window looking East,  there will be a skylight above the stairwell.

View from Bathroom Windows, May 2008
Think Spa!

Bathroom looking towards Bedroom, May 2008

Bedroom View, Terrace, May 2008
In the corner of the bedroom will be a fireplace.  Sliding glass doors will take you out to the terrace.  This terrace wraps around to the West side of the house (where the water feature is).  In fact I am walking it now.......

Looking in from Terrace, May 2008
Here we are on the terrace in front of the living room.  Just in time to catch up with Paige and Sammy. 

Public access road to our land / Beginning of Diary, March 2005
This road, known as Camino San Benito, ends up ahead at the entrance to our property.  The property is 5 hectares or almost 12 and a half acres, is wedge shaped and slopes 200 feet from the top to the bottom.  From the top there are panoramic views of mountain ranges to the West, South and East and the town of Atotonilco to the North.  At the lowest elevation is a creek bordered by ancient mesquite trees.

View Looking West, August 2005
After the rains in June and July the land turned from brown and thirsty to green and growing. In the distance are the Guanajuato Mountains.

View Looking Southwest, August 2005
Barb keeps her eyes on the ground as the terrain is rocky and steep!

View Looking East, August 2005

View looking Northeast, August 2005

Cactus, August 2005
The cactus are everywhere in all shapes and sizes. 

Dowser, April 2007
We work with a dowser to locate a source of water. He brings his divining rod - a tree branch.

Paige and the Dowser, April 2007
When the dowser finds water, his two pronged stick leaps upward to his chest. It's hard to believe unless you feel it yourself. Here the dowser invites Paige to experience this age old method of searching for water.

Barb, Scott and Tim, April 2007

Lulu, Donna, Leah, Barb and Paige, April 2007

A view from the bottom looking up, July 2007
In April there was a wildfire that scorched all the land.  It was a shocking site.  We were fortunate in that most of the trees were spared.  Many people reassured us it was a blessing as the land was thick with overgrowth and now it was cleared and ready for the Spring rains.  They were right.  By June, the torrential rains made the land green again.

Scorched Cactus, July 2007
This cactus was burned in the fire but as you can see it has already begun to regenerate itself.

Werner, July 2007
Our architect and master builder, Werner Joaquin Stubbs.

Casita , August 2007
Paige is standing at the entrance of our property.  To the left just inside the fence will be a small casita.  Underneath the casita will be our cistern.

Casita & Cistern, August 2007
The underground cistern can hold 100,000 meters of water.  And, the casita will have incredible views!

Deciding where to put the road, August 2007
We need to put a road from the top of the site to the bottom.  We had a makeshift road for the rig when the well was drilled but theincline is very steep and will wash out if we don't do something more permanent. Werner suggests we curve the road to make it more pleasant to drive and walk on and that we can use the rocks already on the land to cobblestone the road.

Starting the Road, August 2007
The construction of the road begins.  It is a big job and will take about 6 weeks to complete.

Cobblestones, August 2007
Using only hammers, picks and their hands, the workers begin to cobblestone the road.

Werner & Tomas, August 2007
Werner and Tomas, the head of the road building crew. 

Solar, Late August, 2007
Towards the bottom of the property, near the creek, we discover Jim the solar man (who we hope to have a photo of soon!) has started to place frames for the solar panels.  This one is in close proximity to the well and will provide energy for the pump to bring water from the well up to the house.  We have decided to go solar for all functions of the house and property - hooray!

First view of Casita, Late August 2007
The cistern is now finished and on top of its concrete pad the construction of the casita is going fast.  The casita (small house) is looking so beautful we want to move into it now!

Casita construction side view, Late August 2007
Following are some view of the casita under construction.  From the next couple of views you can get a sense of how much the land slopes.  The idea is for this small house to sit at the top of  the property and have views in every direction.

Paige and Danny in Casita, Late August, 2007

Looking up at Casita, Late August 2007
We start to walk around on the land and this is a view looking up at the casita. The shed on the left is temporary and where the crew stores their tools.

Looking Out Casita Windows, Late August 2007

View from Casita Kitchen, September 2007

Progress on Casita and Road, September 2007,
The casita is about to be crowned by its roof and the stone road is close to completion just off the left edge of the photo.  The little dog in the lower left corner is named Toto.

Kelly & Donna,
Paige is with our friends and neighbors on the land, Donna and Kelly.

Designing the house, cut away views -DRAFTS, October - November, 2007
We are now in design phase for our house.  It continues to be a challenging process to distill how we live, the demands of the land and ...our budget!  We have been looking at concrete, stone, steel, stucco, adobe, different styles of windows and doors - from the high to the low, we have been looking at it all.  The drawing on top is a draft (hence the scribbled out part on the left ) of what the front of the house will look from the front.  The bottom drawing is as if you were looking at teh back of the house.  Note the bottom - that is where the studios will be.

Designing the house, First Floor View, December 2007
We started the process of designing the house in September 2007.  As you can imagine, the design has changed shape and scale several times. With Werner (the Architect), we have rigorously explored the questions of functionality, what we have always dreamed of in a house, our different cultures and styles and cost.  After months of creative, frustrating, and exciting discussions we have a plan we love and can afford - hooray!  Above is the drawing for the main floor of the house.  Note:  see the steps into the living room/sala - they are steps down into the room and the doors to outside are all sliding glass. The dining room (if you are in the sala you take a few steps up to the dining room) will also function as a library (we love being able to spread books out on the table!).

Designing the house, Ground Foor, December 2007
The studios and the exercise room (which will also double as a second guest room) are on the ground floor.  Where you see the car is a driveway with a covered part on the right side (originally we wanted a garage but this is an example where we compromised to cut down on expenses).  The covered portion will  house the solar equipment. You can access the car and the studios via the stairs thru the house or, by walking around from either the front or back doors. The house will be made out of adobe, cement, steel and glass. The plan is to break ground on January 7, 2008. 

Deciding site on land for house, December 2007
For the last several months we have been scouting all over the land to find the perfect spot for our house. There are approximately 10 acres and since the land is steeply sloped every tier has a different view.  Some spots are expansive and some feel private.  We have been considering all aspects during the design process.  I think we finally found our perfect location!

Orienting the direction of the house, December 2007
Werner checks with his compass to determine best direction to situate the house.

Paige, Werner and Gerardo, December 2007
Gerardo is the head of the construction crew.

Marking the direction of the house, December 2007
Jose is helping Gerardo string lines to show how the house will be situated.  Jose is standing approximately where our bedroom terrace will be.

House construction Phase I, Jan-Feb 2008
House construction begins!  View of walls going up for ground floor.

House construction , January 2008
On the terrace will be an eye shaped water feature (think foot deep with various river rocks and stones).  Underneath it will be a small cistern for rain water catchment.

East view, January 2008

Terrace, February 2008
Water feature/cistern on West end of house is almost finished.

February Progress, February 2008
Ground floor

Agave, February 2008
Barb (if you can believe this) went to Guanajuato with friends who heard of a landowner who had miles and miles of agave plants for sale.  $1.00/each!  We dug up and trimmed 50 to bring back to plant on our land. 

Lily and Sammy, February 2008
Lilly and Sammy.  Sammy is now 4 months old and 17 pounds (she was 5 lbs in December!). 

Front View , April 2008
The construction of the house has been moving fast since breaking ground in January. 

Bedroom corner looking West, April 2008
We are looking from an outside corner of the bedroom West.  Notice the wrap around terrace. 

Terrace West end, April 2008

Underneath the water feature is a cistern that will capture rain water.  Luna, our friend's dog,  loves her new pool!

Adobe and slate, April 2008
The adobe bricks they are building the walls with and the green slate that will be used for the terraces.

Roof Structure, April 2008
On the side of the house is the roof structure.  Right now they are in the process of welding it together.  They hope to get it up in the next month or two before the rains begin.