If staying in a private house is a way to feel instantly at home in a foreign place, then staying in a house that refracts the essence of that place is an even fuller initiation. These five design-forward retreats—from a cliffside beach house in Careyes to a grand hacienda outside Mérida—with their yawning courtyards and breezy lounges aren’t just seamless with their surroundings; they’re built with the same humble yet beautiful materials and techniques that have been used in their regions for eons, from the ancient Mayan stucco to volcanic stone. Plus, they’re all rentable with us.
La Tropical – Mérida, Yucatan
The place: With 400-year-old stone churches and 19th-century mansions running the length of the Paseo de Montejo, Mérida feels more European than most colonial cities in Mexico. Yet the city strongly identifies with its pre-Hispanic roots, resulting in cultural contrasts that continue to lure creative nomads to its gently crumbling haciendas and lively markets where the local Mayan dialect can still be heard.
The house: A Midcentury-modern interpretation of a traditional colonial home, La Tropical is made from the same cool, fossilized coral slabs—Coralina stone—used in buildings all over Merida. Everything about the design is meant to bring the outside in: an entire wall of the house’s single bedroom opens up to the pool, and an oversize bathtub peeps into a garden of palms. Handwoven sisal rugs woven from the region’s henequen agave plant fibers cover the floors.
While you’re there: Merida’s zocalo is a short stroll away, as is the 19th-century Teatro José Peón Contreras, one of the city’s most prized neoclassical buildings. You can finish your paseo with a palate brightener nearby at Sorbeteria Colon, which turns out tropical flavors like soursop mamey fruit, sweet avocado, and coconut ice.
Casa Ayehualco – Amatlán, near Mexico City
The place: A country getaway an hour south of Mexico City, Amatlán is a serene alternative to more thronged Cuernavaca, or Tepoztlán. It’s also supposed to be an energetically mystical spot, thanks to its Aztec lineage (it was the birthplace of the Aztec god Quezalcoatl). Divine connections aside, the surrounding landscape of forests, trails and waterfalls make for a peaceful retreat.
The house: Casa Ayehualco, built by a prominent Mexican architect renowned for his hotel and residential projects, is an homage to local materials and textures. There’s hardly anything about the six-bedroom Casa Ayehualco that isn’t endemic: the barro cocido (terra cotta), native wood, and volcanic stone offering a nod to the two volcanoes to the east of Amatlán. Built around an interlocking plan of terraces, patios, open hearths and contemplative pools, Casa Ayehualco is a collection of warm, inviting spaces poetically arranged.
While you’re there: For guests looking to tap into the wellness side of things, the owners can arrange walks to forage for native medicinal plants or organize a private local temazcal (sweat lodge). An hour and a half from Amatlán, Xochicalco is a pre-Columbian archaeological site with well-preserved Mayan pyramids.
El Palmar – Playa Grande, Oaxaca
The place: The Oaxacan coast is a long, meandering stretch of sandy shoreline where whale and dolphin sightings are common between December and April. Oaxaca’s Playa Grande, with its empty beaches and nesting leatherback sea turtles, has the extra seclusion that’s lacking in nearby Puerto Escondido.
