I built a house in Mexico

As crazy as it sounds, it really did happen.

In 2006, my family decided to jump off the crazy 9-5 juggling work/life/kids hamsterwheel for a few years. Based on the rave reviews of some very creative friends, we headed for San Miguel de Allende, an interior town built during the Mexican revolution, filled with artists and eccentrics, 3 hours north of Mexico City.

One of my dreams came true when I had the good fortune of being able to build a house in San Miguel. I documented the building of the house each day. Click the video above to see the compilation of those photos as well as quick tour of the finished house.

THIS IS THE ARCHITECT, LIS BISGAARD.

Trained in Denmark, born and raised in Mexico City, she lived many years in Tunisia, Italy and France. While in Tunisia, she learned the art of creating mosaic and cosmati designs, a particular style of inlaid marble based on used by italian craftsman in the 12th and 13th centuries. I had the good fortune of having her design a few specifically for this house in the entry hall and bathrooms. They are astonishing. Her work is just beyond! Check it out here.
By the way, the shot on the right is of Lis and 2 of my kids, Ben and Georgia, then 5 and 7. Now 12 and 14!

A MOODBOARD FOR THIS MASTERPIECE.

We wanted to design and build a modern house. We also wanted it filled with natural materials as well as the soul of Mexico. We scoured the "campo", the countryside on the outskirts of San Miguel. We searched for old wooden beams, stone doorways and 500-year-old Hacienda doors. Here are some of the reference shots I shared with Lis as we were brainstorming on the house.

ART & ARCHITECTURE ANYONE?

Lis came up with a great idea to stage the house as a modern art gallery. We got the help of a local curator to choose the pieces for each space. It was a remarkable open house.

This was the ad (above) that ran in the Atencion, the local newspaper. The open house was the talk of the town. We got two offers that evening. Sadly, we were greedy and thought we could do better so we waited...We ended up staging the house traditionally and accepted the same offer 7 months later. Sigh. You live and learn.