Casa Wabi Sabi

Every Friday or Saturday Barry takes me out to Casa Wabi Sabi to show me what he’s been overseeing all week. I hear about the small changes and challenges every day, watch him whip up another few pages of drawings to explain how this or that should be built or altered. Weekly, I gather the invoices and receipts, do my best to keep up with the record-keeping, and make sure the crew and suppliers are paid for their  hard work and prompt deliveries. Then I jump in the jeep, which now Barry calls his “horse” because it rides like one (still nameless, though), and go on my much-anticipated tour of the project.

I prefer it this way, because I love surprises, and when we arrive at the site I am always surprised, always awed, and invariably wiping away tears…of joy and admiration and gratefulness. Not once has the sheer beauty of what I call Barry’s best work—this living sculpture he is tending like a (sometimes difficult) and much-loved baby—failed to make me gasp when I see the scope and quality of the work accomplished through the week.

Not once has the sheer beauty of the land, or the views of the fields, lake, hills, and distant Santa Rosa mountains escaped me, especially the last few weeks of a belated rainy season, with the gray and white cumulus prancing across the wide sky all around us. No matter what my mood, when I go out to the property and see the house that only six months ago was a dream on paper I am simultaneously and instantly grounded, calmed, and delirious with the fact of its existence. It looks like we will be moving in at the end of November…a much-planned ‘construction’ pregnancy of nine months resulting in a home named Casa Wabi Sabi.  Until next time, this is Nancy signing off, and handing this over to Barry…

Over the shingles (tejamanil) we placed plywood mainly to support the men and then to receive concrete. The orange hoses are conduit to run wire for lights, etc. The wooden boxes were installed from below to frame the small skylights (tragaluz). All this was constructed about a month ago.

Dining/Kitchen area showing wood beams and ceilings, before plastering. Notice the metal framing to create soffits. Lightweight metal framing is used here in Mexico just as in the US to construct non-bearing walls in commercial spaces. Our builder/architect, Pepe, has a great deal of experience in building commercial buildings as well, therefore it made good sense to him to use it in a few places.

The curved wall in the foreground is replicating the garden wall as it ascends; it’s the exterior stairway to the second floor studio and patio.

The entry stairs viewed from the roof. Over the next couple of weeks this view will change drastically when a minimalistic/modern design railing will be installed, and the final adobe will be installed to hide the cement block wall in the background.

Though the above photo shows the entry stairs from the roof, this area is the view from the kitchen and the dining room. We originally planned on having a modern fountain here, surrounded with bamboo, yet after the staircase was built the curve was just too beautiful to hide behind a forest of green. This area is now becoming a water feature, with three ponds (the smallest can be seen as a hole in the dirt center-left), a waterfall/waterway connecting the ponds, planted with shorter foliage amongst large boulders—the main pond will be alive with koi. We came up this idea after visiting our neighbor Bill last week, and sitting around the pond in front of his casita (he’s donating some of his fish to the effort).

The view from inside the house will be fantastic, the sound of water so soothing, and it will welcome guests into Wabi Sabi in the most gracious way.

I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge Arq. Jose Alvarado Briones and his extroadinary men, his support staff, and Mexico in general. These men work hard and care about what they are doing.

Sample showing finish stucco against rough coat (this will be painted)

Door into kitchen

I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge Arq. Jose Alvarado Briones and his extroadinary men, his support staff Mexico in general. These men work hard and care about what they are doing.

Hallway being plastered with gesso (yesso in Mexico). We couldn’t be happier with the use of gesso, or natural plaster. Pepe brought a crew of 8 men from Querétaro, a large city an hour from San Miguel. They’ve applied  this marvelous material over all the rough, undulating surfaces. The men who do this daily are called yeseros and in my opinion are artists. The final finish feels to the hand like a smooth piece of marble.

Plastering is a messy job. Pepe told me that it looked like the bottom of a bird cage.

This is the first of the stone flooring being installed. Notice how well the stone is placed in relationship to each other. This flooring raises the floor level around the house by about 2.5″. At the near end of construction the floor will be washed and a natural sealer applied. Wabi Sabi will eventually receive many lovely carpets.

Curved stairway up to Barry's studio; partial studio walls

Barry's studio with curved window now being built on second story

Many of the men working on our project have paid a “coyote” an average of $3,000 dollars to get across the border to work in the US. This is very dangerous and highly illegal. I know this is a sensitive subject for many Americans and I respect all people’s opinions. I have known both sides of this story by working in the industry in the US and here. I wish that more of these men could earn enough of a living here consistently to stay in their own country and especially not need to leave their families. I’ve had many conversations with Mexican construction workers on both sides of the border and know that the majority of them would prefer to stay in their own country with their families. With the recession at hand in the US many of the construction workers have returned to Mexico. Perhaps in the future our country will come up with a permitting process to allow Mexicans the opportunity to work legally. Please feel free to write any experience you may have about this subject.

Javier working on a structural corner castille that will support a patio roof above.

View of studio from roof; there is a door in the studio closet (white portion) that allows access to roof. The white panels are made of styrofoam, (not a very environmentally sound product). However, this pop-out was an addition to allow for a 3 ft. deep closet to house a large flat file and printer (and the access doorway). As you can imagine, the walls made of adobe and concrete are very heavy and the space below didn’t have a beam installed to carry such a wall. Thus the use of the panel which is much lighter even after stucco and plaster. Any leftover and/or discarded styrofoam (the kitchen soffit and some small closets were also formed of styrofoam) was crumbled into small pieces and mixed with the concrete used for the roof, thus lessening the weight of the concrete roof a bit.

Angel (pronounced with a soft ‘g’) working on the radius window in studio. The last bóveda will follow sit on the radius of this window. The bovederos are expected back this coming Wednesday.

This is a close up picture of the oxidized window setting against the finish stone of the fireplace.

The maestro Arturo that has been building the Rumford fireplace; he’s continuing to cut, place and install the stone surrounding the entire fireplace to 2′ above the exterior parapet wall. Arturo is another example of a true artist. Notice the two cut pieces of stone over the opening called a lintel. My hat is off to Arturo at his patience and care.

Note from Nancy: When the concrete foundation for the fireplace was poured a few weeks ago, we came out in the early evening. Noticing the concrete was still wet, and urged on by our friends Julie and Gabi, I drew a heart with our initials in the concrete. One more blessing…

Windows in Nancy's studio (from inside they frame the organos cactus)

View of the staging area for materials, mixing concrete & the carport shot from the roof.

Leveling back patio area to receive the same stone that is being used in the interior.

Thank you all for watching Casa Wabi Sabi rise up from imagination, dedication, collaboration, artistry, and lots of muscle. Have a great few weeks and we’ll be back with another update as we enter more into finishes.

Abrazos,  Barry and Nancy

Adios...