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This is the place for the serious epicurean.
Just restored to the exacting standards of its European art dealer owner, La Kasbah is not only a house, it is a state of mind. It is the relaxing haven of her closest friends, not just another rental property, a little slice of paradise right in the middle of the Historical Center for those who cross the pond to come visit. Look at the pictures and you will understand. It is a special house. No, there are no formal dining rooms or living rooms but many places in and outdoors where according to the sun, the shade or one's whim, having a meal, reading a book, listening to music or just sitting under the key lime tree becomes a joy. The kitchen is well stocked with trays to carry one's food to the perfect place. The patio is Mediterranean style, the centre of the house. For the pleasure of her guests, the owner has planted on the upper terrace the most beautiful specimens of the outstanding collection of cacti she has lovingly collected all over the great surrounding desert or exchanged with other collectors throughout the Americas. She has also displayed excellent art work gathered in Europe and Latin America.
The Kasbah has its own private entrance. From the entrance which has beams, a bench and a mirror the visitor greeted by the sight of a delightful patio, with its mission tiles, its sunken fountain, a table, chairs and stools, the perfect place to enjoy the sun, the shade, a meal, a chat a Margarita in hand. The limes are the sole property of whoever picks them up. (the owner's favorite Margarita recipe awaits you in the kitchen). From the patio you can also see part of the cactus garden above and the balcony of the Sahara Lounge.
Downstairs:
The first door to your right in the patio takes you to a double room. The first one has in addition to a desk, a stereo, bookshelves, a sofa and chairs. Two steps below there is another sitting area with a table a gas fireplace and a TV/DVD. With its thick adobe walls it is both cool in the summer and thanks to the fireplace warm in the winter. It is the perfect place to enjoy a meal, a movie, a fire or just cool down after coming from the street. (the sitting area in front of the fireplace can sleep a single person albeit a tall one).
The second door in the patio opens onto the first bedroom, the blue room, with its adjacent bathroom. The bedroom has a Mexican king size bed (61 inches) good lighting for reading and like the kitchen and the other bedroom well lit and ample closets. The bathroom also opens onto the patio to serve as a guest bathroom in case of a party.
Next there is the picturesque staircase, a childhood memory of lazy summers in Spain really, that takes you to the upper terrace, the cactus garden and the Sahara Lounge.
Counterclockwise, the next door is the kitchen. It is large, full of sun, has a table to eat it in and is fully equipped to please the most demanding chef. It includes among other things a dishwasher, an oven, a microwave, a toaster, the indispensable blender for Margaritas, a wok, tons of pots and pans and nice table ware to set an elegant table. The sink is made out of red travertine and the room is ample and airy. The rear door of the kitchen opens onto the outside patio with a washing machine neatly hidden in a closet behind antique doors and all that is required to dry your clothes short of a dryer. The sun does the trick very quickly here.
The last door, the blue door in the pix, opens onto the second bedroom, the green room, with a standard double bed. It also has an en suite dressing room/bathroom with lots of well lit and ample closets and a good reading light by the bed.
Upstairs:
After climbing 14 easy steps you will reach the terrace. There you will reach your own private botanical garden. Some specimens are unique to this garden such as the Backergia militaris, the Shotii monstruosa or the Saguaros (one from Arizona one from Baja California) to name a few. At the rear of the terrace the cushiest of sofas awaits you under the huge boveda (vaulted ceiling) in the Sahara Lounge. Plunge into it like there is no tomorrow and whether during the day or at night (the garden is spectacularly lit) enjoy the best the Mexican nature has to offer: those botanical sculptures called cacti. In the winter you can light a fire in the wood burning fireplace and feel like a beduin in the desert at night.
If you are fit, adventurous and as importantly sober, climb the ship ladder along the Kasbah wall, among plants, a bench awaits the intrepid to enjoy the most tremendous vista of San Miguel, its baroque domes and proud steeples and, if the time is right, the sun setting in all its glory over the stupendous sierra de Guanajuato. ¡Viva la vida!
La Kasbah is the perfect place for the assiduous practitioner of l' Art de Vivre! Come enjoy its delights
(Special attention has been given to the lighting throughout the Kasbah and the cactus garden to be both romantic at night and practical and safe when needed (reading, searching into closets, going up and down the stairs etc..) All rooms have gas heating, it does get cool in the winter at night, and electric radiators are provided for both bathrooms. We don't want anybody to get hurt: please note that La Kasbah is not the safest place for toddlers!)
A maid comes twice a week to change bed linen, towels, and clean up.
A gardener once a week. |
