Sunday Escape - Casa Chaaltun in Mexico

Are you planning a flight to Mexico?

How about the Yucatan area, one famous for its Mayan ruins?

Here, within a gated residential area in the north of Merida, there is a perfect home to savor the atmosphere of the place in extreme comfort.

It’s called House Chaaltun and was designed by Tescala architects to “evoke the natural and cultural context” of the surroundings in every aspect.

For example, the elevated walls, with slats forming a canopy above the terrace, are made of stone, marble and Chukum, a finishing made of resin of tree and limestone; while the concrete walls of the sloped driveway are colored in pink to resemble the shade of rocks, walls and roads that have a tone that turns on red.

Sunken water-filled limestone pits and caves that dot the Yucatan peninsula are evoked by the pool, or better the relaxation area with bar and lounge.

"The swimming pool’s ambiance resembles a cenote" - explains the group Tescala Architects - " A limestone wall emerges from the water, and looking up you’re surrounded by the marble lattice facade floating in the second level".

To achieve this, the architects chose to align its base with the Oxford gray granite to make the water a dark blue-green color. The residence, which occupies a site of 1,173 square meters, has an irregular shape, long and narrow with a curved edge, which is why the study has divided the structure into four volumes connected along the main axis, that make it resemble the spine.

Each pair of these volumes is characterized by facades that make it recognizable its functions and interior in which the use of wood and gray is predominant.

The pair composed of marble walls paneled house the social spaces: the dining room, which looks out from a side of a golf course and on the other a pool; a sitting area, upstairs, with large doors opening onto a terrace with glazed balustrades.

The other two longer volumes are defined by thick and heavy walls enclosing the private areas: two bathrooms with bedrooms on the ground floor, another bedroom and a games room upstairs.

Not bad, right?