A 1906 Colonial House in Mérida’s Centro Histórico, Restored by Taller Estilo Arquitectura
Villa Cortile in the Centro Histórico of Mérida was built in 1906 as the Spanish Consulate to Yucatán and was recently brought back to life with the help of Atahualpa Hernandez and Víctor Cruz of Taller Estilo Arquitectura. The Mérida practice is known for restoring houses in the historic center and won the restoration prize at Architectural Digest Mexico’s Iconos del Diseño awards in 2010. Here, they kept the Yucatecan colonial structure and added clean, modern lines.
Enter through the foyer to one open space for the kitchen, dining and living areas, all facing the garden and pool. Spend the hottest part of the afternoon in the pool and the shade of the courtyard, and when it cools, take a drink up to the roof terrace, with the garden and pool below and the stars overhead. The home is designed for four guests but, with several lounge areas, there’s always somewhere to be on your own. There’s also an air-conditioned TV room for the evenings and a laundry room for longer stays.
Layout
Villa Cortile sleeps up to four guests in two air-conditioned king bedrooms. The kitchen, dining and living areas share one open space.
• Bedroom 1: King
• Bedroom 2: King
• Bathrooms: Three full, plus a guest WC
Good to know
Check-in is from 4 p.m. and check-out is by 11 a.m. No pets, and no smoking. A minimum age of 18 applies to the primary renter.
Amenities & services
Wi-Fi, air conditioning in the bedrooms and TV room, pool (heated in winter), garden, patio, roof terrace, private parking, several lounge areas, TV room, laundry room, washer, dryer, dishwasher, stove, oven, iron and ironing board, hair dryer, shampoo, soap, towels, linens, weekly housekeeping and change of linens.
Around
Plaza Grande and Mérida Cathedral are a short walk from the door, and on Sundays, the streets around the square close to traffic for music, food stalls and dancing. Parque Santa Lucía, with its colonnaded arcades, is a little farther, and Paseo de Montejo, the boulevard of 19th-century mansions, is 1.5km away. Mercado Lucas de Gálvez is the place to buy hammocks, achiote paste and habanero salsa. For day trips, there’s Uxmal and Chichén Itzá for the ruins, cenotes for a swim, and Celestún for flamingos in the cooler months. You’ll want a car for those, since most are an hour or more from town.
Location
Centro Histórico, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico. Nearest airport: Mérida Manuel Crescencio Rejón International (MID), 15 minutes by car. Cancún is about four hours by road.
Best time to visit
November to March brings dry days and cooler evenings, the easiest season for the roof terrace after dark and for day trips to the ruins, and the pool is heated. April and May are the hottest months, which suit long afternoons in the pool and an air-conditioned house. June to October is the rainy season, when the garden is at its greenest.
