When about three years ago we moved into a "green" house we had built—and which as far as we know remains the "greenest" house in San Miguel de Allende and the surrounding area—the initial weeks were not reassuring.A freak winter storm in January dumped several inches of rain over a two-week period and one morning …
Tag: green building
Two weeks away
With the universal warning from friends still resonating in our heads--"be sure to check on the construction every day"--we came back to San Miguel from a two-week trip feeling a bit apprehensive, almost expecting to find some disaster. There were three surprises. During our absence the architect had fired the maestro Bonifacio and his entire …
A Day's Hard Work
According to a newswire story just a few days ago, Mexico's unemployment rate had "spiked" to 5 percent in January 2009. That is still almost three percentage points lower than the latest national jobless figures for the United States. Indeed, in some specific U.S. markets like Oregon, unemployment approaches 10 percent. More incredibly, two years …
Off the ground
It looked and felt like an apparition. After almost three years of watching our house plans stumble over endless obstacles and delays--architects, legal problems, squabbling neighbors, plus the occasional waffling and changes of mind on our part--on February 10 we actually broke ground. We showed up at the land early in the morning and a …
It's Not Easy, or Inexpensive, Being Green
Building in the country will force us to revisit assumptions and calculations about how much we are willing to pay for a so-called green or sustainable home. Hey man, using photovoltaic cells or wind turbines to generate your own electricity sounds awesomely cool and progressive, doesn't it? Maybe so, but when you get an estimate …
Architectural Plans Take Shape
Voila. The sudden appearance of architectural drawings might suggest this project is leaping forward. Well, hardly. Or at least it doesn't seem that way to us. It has taken over six months, and a change of architects, to get where we are. We're delighted with the results, though. Friends keep telling us this is the …
What's in a Dream Home?
While the paperwork related to the land in Taboada worked its way through the Mexican legal system, we hired an architect who asked us for a description of our dream home. It was a good exercise that forced us to think this project through.Here is what Stew and I came up with. [Notes in brackets …
El Rancho Santa Clara 