Yucatan Living

American Modern in Ermita

21 April 2013 REAL ESTATE, Real Estate FYI 1

Click to watch the walkthrough on Vimeo!

It's been awhile since we've published a house video in Merida. We took a recent tour of two homes in the Ermita section of town, and this is the first one. Jennifer Lytle takes us on a tour of a more modern home that is being sold fully furnished.

Unllike some of the houses we've toured in Merida, there wasn't anything about this home that made our jaw drop open... it is not that kind of house. In this house you are not going to find any beautiful colonial details or magnificent antiques. This is a "normal" house, a house built for living, a house built as a tabula rasa for you to put your stamp on it.

What it does have is the practical necessities. Those start with an off-street parking area, a real plus in the centro where parking can be hard to find. The house is air conditioned in the living room, in the bedrooms... all the places that you want it to be. The kitchen is spacious and well appointed with granite counters and a central island. You can cook a meal here without running into the person washing the dishes. And off the kitchen is a sizeable pantry, sufficient for storing food as well as equipment and all those extras you sometimes just can't find room for.

A separate dining room and an office alcove give you more space for living, as well as a small interior patio, now outfitted with a dipping pool. A large water tank in the center of the house obviously presented an architectural challenge. The current owners cut it down to create this dipping pool. We think the central spot would make a better sitting area with potted plants... a perfect place for sipping coffee in the morning or watching the stars at night.

Two bedrooms in the main house each have their own bathrooms. Both are spacious, with more than adequate closet space. The master bedroom has a main walk-in closet and a secondary alcove closet that could also be used for an entertainment center or a small sitting area. At the back of the house is more storage and a laundry room, with easy access to the back yard where you can hang clothes to dry in complete privacy.

The backyard has two parts. One is an attractive cement patio that connects the back door of the main house, the guest house and the swimming pool, which is provided shade by an authentic palapa. Another backyard is behind the guest house and is still undeveloped, but has great potential for a garden, a fountain or even an outdoor art studio. The guest house looks over both gardens from the bedroom and the bathroom.

You know what they say... in real estate, its all about location, location and what else? Oh yes, location! This house is located in one of our favorite parts of the centro. On a quiet side street in the Ermita district, the house is just two blocks from Parque Ermita with one of the oldest churches in Merida centro, a lovely gazebo in the center of the park and free WIFI. Around the park are a few restaurants, a bakery and the city's institute for teaching the Maya language.

In the other direction, walk five blocks to Parque San Juan, where you'll find another beautiful old church, a big park and a large playground. A few more blocks puts you at the city's central mercado, with everything that it has to offer, including the City Museum. Four more blocks after that and you are at the Plaza Grande in the very center of Merida!

This house is an example of a simple and practical renovation of a more modern house that is also available in Merida. Merida isn't all colonial homes, and all the homes aren't built by designers. Like many others, this house was built in the fifties or sixties. It is built of cement block and tile, with some amenities that rarely come with a colonial home (like a parking space) already accounted for. It is located on a quiet side street, unlike many colonials that are on larger streets that have become busier as Merida has grown.

Jen, our tour guide for this house, is from Tierra Yucatan Real Estate.

So, without further ado, here's the video! Enjoy!

American Modern from Yucatan Living on Vimeo.