Sometimes a location you walked past throughout your childhood—at times intriguing, at times barely noticeable—transforms into the canvas for a new home for a young family, situated on the edge of Mérida’s historical center. The project is based on an existing large, old house (casona). After the removal of deteriorated slabs and walls that were not part of the original structure, the house is divided into two wings: one within the remnants of the original structure, connected to the street, and the new wing, which integrates with the courtyard.

The main entrance is positioned at the center of the first bay, through a semi-covered patio, where the door accessing the private area of the house is configured as a mobile lattice partition. The foyer connects on one side to the service area (garage, laundry room, utility room), and on the other to the street-facing office and the master bedroom.

The ground floor master bedroom achieves contact with the courtyard through a slot that projects onto an exterior reflecting pool. The master closet and bathroom extend from this room with a sequence of oblique views toward the courtyard, whose geometry and transparencies provide exterior views while maintaining complete privacy.

Crossing the axis that divides the old and new construction reveals the family’s social area, a space and a half high that houses the kitchen and dining room. It integrates with the terrace and swimming pool through a large window, a space bathed in natural light that extends laterally to the family living room. A cantilevered staircase connects to one of the secondary bedrooms on the first level and continues up to the stepped upper room. Both have views of the courtyard. The new volumes are designed not to touch the original structure and massing of the house.

A contrast is achieved between the old elements with stone finishes and the new, clean, solid volumes on the upper floor and glazed ones on the ground floor. The lattices serve as an element for privacy and light filtering.