San Miguel House

The  UNESCO World Heritage  Site of San Miquel De Allende is an old Pre-Columbian mining town surrounded by centuries old ranches that are separated by muros de piedra or stone walls that run continuously across the undulating landscape. On the outskirts of the historic center is a former horse ranch  called Valle de Los Senderos. The  masterplanned development requires houses that face the central  nature preserve to  incorporate a continuous stone wall suggestive of the historic muros. 

The  house resides behind the stone wall and engages the site in a series of grottos that are carved out of the adjoining hillside. The  gardens provide cooled air in a passive strategy that circulates up through the house drawn by the solar heating of the glass studio above. Because the house is designed for a retired couple who invite their extended family for the myriad of Mexican holidays, every room needs to be private and flexibly allow for alternative uses. That is libraries and studios become bedrooms and in-kind bedrooms need to be separated from gathering areas.