The gate at Hacienda Yaxcopoil was built in the Mudéjar­ or Hispanic-Moorish style.  This style of architecture is found all over Mexico and reflects a prevalent style coming out of Andalucia, Spain during the 16th century.

We see echos of this style in the colonial doors of our own house, as well as many inner courtyards and arcades in abundance throughout Mérida.  How did it all come about?  We started researching and found this great article.

As research for our renovation, we spend a lot of time visiting beatiful old haciendas dotted throughout the countryside near Mérida.  Some are in ruins, some are museums and others are fancy hotels with pictures of Bill Clinton on the walls.

For the hotels, we sneek in under false pretenses.  When challenged, our pretend back story is that we are looking for a 70th birthday venue for Stan’s father.

Yesterday we visited the hacienda in Yaxcopoil.  We were particularly struck by the long run of six rooms, opening into one another, along the front.  At each end large windows opened to carry a cooling breeze through the rooms.

We have been struggling with bringing ventilation into our own house.  Feeling the breeze in these interconnected rooms was fuel for thought.

Many renovations in Mérida add new structures and buildings that purposefully look old in an attempt to make them fit with the existing building. The result can at times be a bit Disneyland.

We love the outdoor bar at Hacienda Ochil. It demonstrates how a new and modern structure can work with an old building.  Instead of remodelling to accomodate a new bar in the old style, the old walls act as a backdrop for a new idea.

We had lunch at a hacienda about one hour south of the city a few weeks back. Hacienda Ochil was once a major producer of henequen - a fiber derived from agave that made the city flush with cash in the late 1800s.

The hacienda is magical. The way the old stone walls have been left to showcase their age makes us constantly question how much we should intervene with the existing surfaces and structures of our house.

The enjoyment of lunch in this cool and covered dining area also reinforces the need to encourage the use of outdoor spaces in our design.  After all, who wants to fly all the way to Mexico just to sit behind glass staring out at the garden?