Reinventing an Old Room

Historic colonial homes in Mérida were often built in stages.  Initially, a one- or two-room building was constructed hard up against the street.  Each room would have high 14 to 18 foot ceilings and attractive wood or iron beams for support.  Over the years, new rooms were tacked on the back of the houses with progressively lower ceilings and less ornate support (i.e. no fancy beams).  With the back of some houses being 100 years younger than the front, a walk through them is a journey through the ages.

If you were looking to buy an old colonial here, you would no doubt be shown many houses with high-beamed ceilings in the front rooms.  We certainly were.  We pictured ourselves restoring these rooms to their former glory and looking magazine perfect.

The problem is that we simply couldn’t imagine ourselves inhabiting these beautiful spaces.  In general, front rooms directly off the street are noisy.  Ours sounds like the waiting room in a bus terminal.  Also, with sunny weather all year round, who wants to be cooped up inside, especially in a room with few windows and no ventilation?

The front room of our house has all the problems mentioned above.  To add insult to injury, although moderately high, the ceiling is without beams, has no historic value and is just plain ugly.

The ugly duckling of a ceiling in our front room.

What do do? What to do? After staring at our design documents for the last four months, a solution finally arrived in the form of the DELETE key.  A single keystroke has blown away the roof and transformed the room into a light, airy entrance courtyard.  Add a fountain, a plant, 20-foot whitewashed walls, and we think we’ll have a winner.

The inspiring courtyard space of Porte Royale, a riad in Marrakech, Morocco.