Architecture Wednesday: Casa Diáfana

While I do love a barn, and would love to live in one, I’d also love to live in an old Colonial home in Merida, Mexico. Especially in what used to be an abandoned building in the historic center of Mérida that has been turned into the Diaphanous House, or Casa Diáfana.

The goal was to blend this new home into the historical context of its street and was attained by keeping much of the original Casa Diáfana’s exterior facade as possible. Once the facade was restored, the architects moved onto the foyer and the first-floor guest bedroom; luckily much of this part of the old building was intact so they have been largely preserved as they were. Through the foyer are the public spaces, with a double height living area, kitchen, and dining room with a wall of windows that replaced a crumbling brick wall.

There is a small private courtyard that, besides being a lovely place to relax, contains the pool that actually plays a passive role in heating and cooling the home; when the glass patio doors are open, the water, cool from the chilly night, helps reduce the temperate in the living and dining area. It also  absorbs the heat during the day and gives it back to those spaces when the temperatures drop at night.

This is a home I could easily live in’ small, in a lovely part of the world, and both old and new, and a bit eco-friendly.

If only I could convince my husband to move back to Mexico …

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