C+L Casa Baja

Progress+Patience

2010-03-01T19:44:00.000-08:00

What we love about Todos Santos is the laid-back attitude and contemplative pace of life. The go-go-go, clock-watching culture of the big city is exactly what we're wanting to escape...Old habits die hard, but as the weeks go by & we wait for our house to be ready, we're learning to celebrate progress & patience!

With the sky, sand, surf, and sounds of the work crews' songs echoing through the house, it actually not to hard to just enjoy each moment.

Lately, there's been lots of work completed! The entrance from the garage area:

Here's me walking down one of my fav features of the house - the staircase. Sidenote - I just love dresses with pockets :)

On the main level of the house in the main room, the acid wash of the wall & the finished fireplace.

The kitchen area now has a sink, cupboards, and countertop. And lights that work! Fridge, stove & dishwasher are being delivered this week!

Having the electricity all hooked up is a big step. Though I'm not looking forward to changing these lightbulbs!

The pool crew began work last week.

We changed the pool tiles from gold to onyx glass to add some contrast - we're really happy with how they look - I love a little sparkle!

Upstairs, the inside of the dome in the study area is painted sky blue.

My dream bathroom is slowly coming together with tiles, sinks, and lights installed - and the plumbers are working away. In Mexico, the plumber and electrician are one and the same. Hopefully, the toilets won't flush when we turn out the lights!

Our architect Hiram Arce suggested this round window for the master bathroom - we love it!

We love the warmth of the floor treatment throughout the house. And whenever we get a little bit frustrated with the pace of the progress, we just go hang out in our bedroom & its patio and enjoy the view.

We can check out the new wall that is going around the perimeter of the property.

The doors are installed - a view of them from the ground floor where the grotto will be.

The colour scheme is really inspired from the grasses and beach surrounding us.

We can't wait to move in! We're looking forward to enjoying this view of the mountains to the south,

hanging out with the baby leatherbacks up at Las Playitas,

and enjoying sunsets like these on our beach.

G'night!

C+L

Destination Wedding Portfolio | Destination Wedding Blog | Cabo Wedding Photographers

Happy New Year!

2010-01-06T08:14:00.000-08:00

We are so excited for 2010! We started off the holiday season with a 4-day drive from Vancouver to Todos Santos, crossing the Mexico border on Christmas Day - a great feeling! The winding road & spectacular landscape made us wish we had more time to stop along the way, but we were eager to arrive in Todos Santos to meet up with our family flying in from BC.

We're now all enjoying time together in the beach casitas of our incredibly friendly & generous neighbour. Their place is just a five minute walk away from our house! Which is perfect as the workers are still working. Yes, things are taking a little longer than expected, but, as we told Hiram the other day, we prefer slow & right to rushed and wrong!

We're actually happy to be here during this part of the building so we can check in every day to see how all the finishings are going. Mauricio & his crew of painters are doing an amazing job with the exterior & the other day they finished the acid wash of the lower floor and of the accent walls - it looks gorgeous! Lots of pics soon to come!

But in the meantime, here are a few images from our travels around the area. Todos Santos & beyond is such a visual feast for photography - too bad we only brought our point&shoot camera! Yesterday we did some exploring - here's a few quick shots from our handy canon g9.

It's Really Happening!

2009-11-23T14:46:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a difference some paint makes! As we drove down the dusty road towards the ocean last week, I looked over to our lot, squeezed Chris' hand and gasped - "Is that really our place?!" Chris & I were both speechless. It looked like the vision our Todos Santos architect, Hiram Arce, had for our contemporary beach house was really actually being realised. Color us excited! :)

The little cement mixer that could :) Hard to believe our house was built with cement mixed with just a couple wee mixers like this one.

I just love the lines and shadows of this area - Hiram was really conscious of how the light would fall on the building. Looking up from the front patio on the main floor.

The palo de arco shade cover for the third floor patio off the master bedroom.

Seriously can't wait to wake up to this!

BBQ area by the pool. Equipment & other stuff to be hidden beneath it behind sliding doors. The inset that is not painted will be a darker acid wash that will also be on some exterior accents.

More progess inside like the interior doors installed and the tile on the staircase.

There is still A LOT of interior work & details to be done, but it's exciting to see it coming together. Tile going on the shower & bath in the master bathroom - which is destined to be my ultimate dream bathroom!

Fireplace & wall prepped for acid wash treatment.

The next day, the concrete floor was being poured & prepped for the light acid wash treatment that will be on all the floors.

My fav feature is the square archway that acts as a frame for various parts of the house & landscape. When the adjoining casita is built (phase two of the building likely to commence in late spring 2010) it will visually link the two different buildings.

From this perspective, it frames the bathroom window, that will soon be treated with acid wash.

Still TONS to do, but every day were were there, Hiram had a team of 10+ men working so fingers crossed it will be ready for Christmas. We bought a mattress in town during our trip & booked our tickets to be here, ready or not!

Slowly but Surely!

2009-10-01T13:19:00.000-07:00

Wow! October is already here! We've had an amazing, and busy, wedding season which means this little blog has been neglected. But out house hasn't been! Progress continues, slowly, but surely.

In August, we were in Todos Santos briefly to see what's been happening at Casa C+L:

Hiram put up a selection of paint colours on the house so we could choose

The column for the modern arch at the entrance was going up.

The study by our bedroom on the third floor will have a traditional boveda.

The master bathroom is going to be my dream bathroom! You'll be able to see out the round window from the bathtub and the square one from the shower.

It doesn't look like much yet, but on that trip we picked the tiles from Interceramic - indigo, grey, and sparkly silver like this

Hiram took us shopping for tiles and other materials. This is the wood for the cabinets and the granite for countertops. The tile is a similar colour to the polished concrete floor. We're still a little torn between tile or concrete flooring....

It was great to actually walk up to the third floor bedroom & see the view we'll be waking up to (apparently it's a good nap spot for our crew, too!)

Me hanging out on the third floor patio

And on the main floor

The view from the beach of our Las Tunas neighbourhood.

Currently, the crew is working on the plastering of the walls. Inside:

And outside:

Windows are in!

There's still a ways to go - all the finishing is very time-consuming. Right now Hiram believes all will be completed come mid-November, which is when we'll be headed down again. But we're patient! We're just hoping we can celebrate Christmas there!

Roof is ON!

2009-07-01T08:23:00.001-07:00

Last week, Hiram told us they would be pouring the concrete roof yesterday, and at 11pm last night, we got the pics: our 3-story house has a roof!

Prepping & pouring

from up top

It's hard to believe our lot looked like this in January.

And now our dream home is standing - woohoo!

Getting Close!

2009-06-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

Wow, a super-busy season means I haven't had a second to update - and there are lots of updates! The most exciting one being the third floor roof will be poured this Tuesday! Wow!

The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floor structures are all built - the concrete roof is the final step of the structural phase of the building. Next up will be the plaster for the exterior & interior, then the huge job of doing all the interior installations and prepping for finishes, and after that, all the interior design with many, many, many big & small decisions to be made for flooring, carpentry, countertops, windows, and more!

Some pics!

Third floor going up

And ready for a roof on Tuesday!

What will be the front door

Prepping the rebar for the roof

And for the dome

We are getting close- yay!

Hope to have pics of the final roof going on this week - that will be cause for celebration!

Progress Report from Hiram!

2009-04-24T11:27:00.000-07:00

Nothing makes us happier than getting a positive progress report from our amazing architect Hiram Arce and today we got one with new photos!

The main (second) floor is really taking shape! View from the access road:

And view from the yard towards the front of the house

Access bridge to main entrance

The fireplace design from my post below. There's window just above the log storage box

View from main living space - below the man working will be retractable glass sliding doors (the beams are temporary support beams for the concrete above). You can see our property stretching to the walls of the affectionately named Taj Mahal (owned by two other Canadians), the trail to the beach on the left, and the ocean..ahhh...

Yes to the Fireplace

2009-04-17T19:43:00.001-07:00

We've been debating whether or not to add a fireplace. We have a fire burning pretty much 7 months a year in our house here at home so we thought it might be nice in the Baja house...for hanging out playing Scrabble & drinking wine when it's a little windier & chillier.

Hiram came up with a great design - very contemporary!

I think it will be perfect in the finished house. Below are some 3D renderings - love how it looks with the computer-generated furniture :)

Lately there's been lots of negative news about Mexico in the press - but fear not, Todos Santos is far, far, far away from Tijuana!

Let's just say it's much more likely we would ever have a dangerous encounter on one of our frequent trips to NYC (one of our fav places!)than in sleepy little Todos Santos! But this map made my mom feel better :) This site: The Truth About Mexico is a great resource. Even better to get the vibe of Todos Santos are these travel articles about Magic Town, an Oasis For Artists and the Sexy Senorita of Baja Sur

We can't wait to get back there and see the latest progress! Last week was Easter which is the biggest holiday in Mexico so we haven't seen anything new for a while. Looking forward to seeing what's been happening this week!

Second Floor Goes Up!

2009-04-06T17:38:00.000-07:00

Last night we got back from a whirlwind trip to San Jose & NYC to open our email and see that the second floor of our house is going up! When Hiram told us the house would be ready at the end of October, we were dubious, but things are starting to happen fast!

The garage on the ground level & the walls of the main level.

Retaining wall & view of bridge on the right-hand side that leads to the main entrance on main level.

Dirt & debris where the courtyard garden will be one day.

Bucket Brigade!

2009-03-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

There will be a celebration on our lot tonight! For our builders, pouring the roof means party - it's tradition.

It's pretty amazing that all the concrete for the ground floor roof is poured by hand! Here are some pics Wendy sent us this morning.

All the guys out early this morning on the roof of the garage.

Buckets, and wheelbarrows, and mixers, oh my!

The man in the tan shirt & baseball cap on the right side of the photo is standing on the top of the bridgeway that leads to the main entrance of the main (second) floor.

Mixing

And hauling.

Repeat.

Things are really moving along! Wish we could be there to see this big step completed!

The second floor goes up!

2009-03-24T17:56:00.000-07:00

We just did a little happy dance in our office when we received these new progress photos from Wendy! The roof of the ground floor/floor of the main floor is going up!

View from the driveway as you look towards the garage.

Closer view of the garage. That's Hiram standing on what will be the entrance bridgeway. No that's not our hottub in the foreground, it's where the livestock used to drink from when the area was farmland.

Rebar that will be filled in with concrete to form the support system for the second (main) floor.

Worker leaning over the bridgeway which will be the entranceway to the main level and ultimately link the main house to the casita that will be built where you see the blue water tank.

View from the main floor. Ahhhhhhh...........

Looking down at the deep end of the pool. Also seems to make a good sunbathing/siesta place for the workers.

Area that will be the patio for the guest suite on the ground level.

Exciting!

Progress!

2009-02-22T21:42:00.000-08:00

We're here in Todos Santos watching our home take shape! It's been a whirlwind trip with lots of progress on the building and lots of changes too.

With the guidance of Wendy and expertise of Hiram, the ground floor has been completely reconfigured from a bedroom to a self-contained casita. We also moved the laundry room, reduced the size of the garage, and added a fireplace to the main floor.

Here's the view of the new ground floor layout. Hmmm...okay, so you really can't tell where anything is from the pictures, but dead centre where the ladder is will be the shower.

Chris checking it out from above.

The site from the slope on which the other casita will ultimately be built.

And us, happy as clams, sitting on what will be the bottom of the pool, with the modified plans.

In other news, Chris is now holds the title as ultimate breakfast-burrito-creator, I've met almost all the neighbours, and our spanish still sucks.

Un fuerte abrazo,
Lynn

The DOME

2009-02-02T07:33:00.000-08:00

More and more work being done! We just love to get our emails from Wendy with her progress pics!

The structure is definitely taking shape:

Plumbing stuff going in:

In the centre of this image, you can see the structural foundations of the dome - a design feature of the home we really like.

On the bottom floor, the circular shape will be an entrance way with a water feature & window out to the courtyard. On the main floor, it will be an alcove in the living room. And on the top floor, it will be a little study.

A closer view.

Here's how it will look from the front fast-forward to many many months from now!

Rebar!

2009-01-31T23:12:00.000-08:00

Things are starting to take shape on the site & we are getting excited! Right now, the workers are mainly working on the foundation and filling in the earth to ground level as well as putting in all the rebar in preparation for the pool and 3rd story.

Here's Hiram, our architect, surrounded by rebar!

Looks so bizarre!

We have to make a decision about this hill with the cool cactus on it. Flattening it will mean we can extend the driveway and also be able to access the other section of the property by car. But it seems sad to rip out that big guy!

An apparently upscale outdoor toilet for the workers! Wendy told us "It's also the first time I have seen a porta potty on a job site made out of concrete block...usually they are pretty ratty makeshift wood frames with tar paper or plywood sides....this is a fancy one! (except for the toilet, obviously)."

I like this angle because it shows the view we'll have from most of the house. The majority of the living space is on the second and third floor looking out towards the ocean.

This will be the view from the other side of the house....ahh...palm trees & blue skies.

We are so looking forward to being onsite! If all goes according to schedule, we should be able to walk the floor plan when we get there in a few weeks - that is going to be a trip!

Un fuerte abrazo,
Lynn

Reason # 16...

2009-01-15T14:56:00.000-08:00

..that we love Todos Santos. Doors ~ each one an invitation to somewhere special.

Un fuerte abrazo,
Lynn

Building the foundation...

2009-01-08T09:23:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! It was almost a year ago that we first visited the site we would ultimately buy. Here's Chris, pondering.

We must have returned to that spot two dozen times in the week we were there. We would sit on the retaining wall at sunset, eating the fish tacos we picked up in town, listening to the ocean, and imagining ourselves actually living there.

This week the workers returned to our site after the holidays, to prep the foundation & deliver more supplies.

Looks like they're digging tunnels to China!

It's great to be getting regular updates from Wendy, our building & design consultant.

We can't wait to meet her when we head down to Baja for the month of February!

Reason #28...

2008-12-22T18:24:00.000-08:00

...that we love Todos Santos. White sand beaches that stretch over 100 miles.

Ground-Breaking!

2008-12-20T14:41:00.000-08:00

Well, my goal was to document our entire journey, but as of today, we've officially broken ground! Woo-hoo! One more time: wooooo-hoooo!

So instead of going backwards and describing our hunt for the perfect Mexican retreat in Baja, I'll skip ahead to now! We just got photos (albeit, small) of the crew laying out the the groundwork on our lot & of the actual dirt piled up and the beginnings of the trenching for the foundation - doesn't look like much, but it sure feels good to see progress!

Crew arriving a few days ago.

That's Hiram, our awesome architect & general contractor, setting out the lay of the land.

You can see a tiny peek of the ocean in the distance in the far left corner. It literally takes us less than two minutes (yes, we timed it!) to walk from where our front door will be to the beach.

Ground officially broken!

This viewpoint looks towards where the guesthouse/casita will be.

In the lot beside us is a very large, very beautiful home owned by a fellow Vancouverite which you can see in the image below. You can also see the ocean to the left - that's the orientation of our house - we'll have views of the ocean and beach down the bocana.

Hiram has designed our house to minimize views of our neighbour & maximize views of the water. The main living areas are on the second and third floor - here's a 3D rendering of his plan:

It's hard to imagine the transformation! Off to celebrate with a glass of wine by the fireplace - it is -9 degrees C here - and Ocean Park is looking very white with all the snow!

The Beginning...

2008-12-20T10:27:00.000-08:00

Last winter, Chris & I and our parents celebrated Christmas in Baja - enjoying the sunshine, the beaches, and the relaxation. As we were sitting on the deck one evening watching the sunset & drinking Pacificos, Chris said to me, "This is the life." And then he added, "This should be our life."

And so it started, our wild, silly, outrageous dream to find a place to live in Mexico. This blog will chronicle that dream - this adventure of building a home in Todos Santos: the ups, the downs, the questions, the answers, the tears, the cheers.

It will serve as a record for us & perhaps as a resource (people to contact, articles to read, factors to consider, things not to do- there's already a lot on that list lol!) for those risk-takers out there who are just as crazy as us!

Here's the original post Chris wrote on our other blog dated Tuesday Dec 25 2007 - the day the idea was born.

~~~~~~~~~

Ahhh, Christmas -must be time for my annual blog post ;-).

Two photographers on holiday

minus all of their camera gear

+ one Fuji F30 point-and-shoot

+ the Baja coastline

+ one private villa

+ one infinity pool (a la my hero Gary Fong)

+ lots of barefoot beach walks with my hot senorita

+ Dos Equis + mas Dos Equis (ps - no habla espanol, lol)

+ three wonderful parents

+ lots of lazy sun-filled days

+ my Undomestic Goddess going all Rachel Ray in the kitchen (Lynn cooks like I blog, lol .....but, Dios mio, Christmas brunch was mucho delicioso)

+ one gorgeous infinity pool sunset after another

= a very, very happy C+L Christmas

We are so fortunate to be here celebrating the holidays in the sunshine with our families. Peace, love and fish tacos to all our family and friends!

Chris

P.S. Have received a lot of emails about this villa - and yes, it is absolutely stunning! Gorgeous views & totally private ~ http://www.villaveranovacations.com/

~~~~~~~~~

But our love of Mexico actually started long before our holiday trip to Baja. When we were young starving artists fresh out of university, our second real paying gig was for an article about the Silver Cities of Mexico. I remember how excited we were to see the bylines: Story by Lynn Tanod, Photos by Chris Jaksa in the travel section of the Arizona Daily Star. We did a little dance of joy in our tiny two-room West End apartment even though the cheque would barely cover our celebration dinner!

Check out that cacti framing scene - Chris always working the wide angles :)

That article was from our first trip to Mexico almost a decade ago - we loved the landscape, the climate, and the people...but I don't think back then we ever would have dreamed that years later we would be building a house in the country!

Next up - Why we picked Todos Santos!

Un fuerte abrazo,
Lynn