Agua en Flor By Boutique

A Textile Artist's Courtyard House in Merida's Centro

Mérida is well worth getting to know. It has the best market in the Yucatán, 16th-century churches, and a historic city center that turns into a pedestrian party each Sunday, all laid out on a colonial grid you can walk end to end. Agua en Flor puts you right in the middle of it, a tranquil space on a quiet street in the Centro. It's a two-bedroom house for four, conceived by its owner, the Norwegian textile artist Benedicte Lux, with water and shade at its heart.

Mornings here are for the streets — coffee, pan dulce, the Mercado Lucas de Gálvez while it's still cool and loud and full — and then back through the door, where the temperature drops and the light goes soft. The lime walls hold that cool through the afternoon: a book in the shade of the courtyard, a lunch that runs long, the pool a few steps away. By evening, everything spills outside again for dinner on the patio, but the plazas and the good mezcal are a short walk away whenever you want them.

The space is intimately connected to Lux, whose brand Supernaturae explores natural textiles and artisanal craft across Mexico, India and Europe. Designed with Lorenza Hernández of HEQU Studio, Agua en Flor is centered around a verdant courtyard with a natural pool, and filled with Lux's vibrant textiles.

Born in Norway and trained in art history and fashion, Lux began by making dyes from kitchen scraps, avocado pits and onion skins. Her work grew into a practice run with a Zapotec community in Oaxaca's Sierra Norte, with silk handwoven in Murshidabad in West Bengal. She was looking for a city whose building tradition reflected her values, and she found it in Mérida.

Surfaces are finished in a traditional lime-based coating in a warm mineral gray that changes through the day. Morning light makes it glow like fired clay. By late afternoon, in the courtyard shade, it goes cool and still. Arched openings framed in wrought iron connect the rooms to the courtyard, the ceilings are exposed timber, and Lux’s handwoven, naturally dyed textiles hang throughout. If you love what you see, the on-site Supernaturae showroom is open to guests by appointment.

Layout

This vacation home for rent in Merida sleeps up to four guests. Two bedrooms and two bathrooms sit around the central courtyard, with a guest WC on the ground floor. Bedroom 1 is the larger room, with a king bed and an en-suite bathroom with a deep tub. Bedroom 2 has two single beds and a small workspace, and uses the full guest bathroom.

• Bedroom 1: King, en suite with bathtub

• Bedroom 2: Two singles, ceiling fan, laptop workspace, shared bathroom

• Guest WC (ground floor)

Experiences

A private viewing (by appointment) of the on-site Supernaturae showroom, where Benedicte Lux's naturally dyed textiles are shown and sold.

Amenities

Chemical-free natural pool, air conditioning throughout, full kitchen with refrigerator, stove, oven, blender, cookware, coffeemaker and kettle, sound system, smart TV, wireless internet throughout, courtyard garden, patio, back terrace, ceiling fan in the second bedroom, workspace, books.

Good to know

The home sits on a traditional Mérida street laid in natural stone, so some surfaces underfoot are uneven. The showroom by the entrance is part of the house, not a separate business, and guests have full use of the property, courtyard and terrace included. Quiet hours run 11pm to 7am. No children, pets or events. Photo shoots are possible by prior arrangement and for a fee. You can swim in the pool, however it is a natural pool and has fish in it, so please don't wear sunscreen or other chemicals.

Around

Mérida's Centro is one of the most intact colonial grids in Mexico, with 16th-century churches, pastel facades and a Sunday tianguis culture that has resisted the flattening of tourism better than most. The Mercado Lucas de Galvez is the neighborhood's working market, good for papadzules, cochinita pibil tortas and horchata at tables that have held the same spot for decades. Parque de Santiago is 10 minutes away on foot. Parque de Santa Lucia, with Apoala and its Oaxacan-Yucatecan kitchen, is about 25 minutes. The Paseo de Montejo, Mérida's grand 19th-century boulevard and home to several of its best museums, is a 15-minute walk north. Chichen Itza is 120km east, a two-hour drive and an easy day trip.