One of the reasons we don't have a land-house is, my dwelling preferences are unrealistic. I am most comfortable looking up at 14-foot ceilings and beams made out of whole trees; stepping lightly upon floors of hand-made tile, and caressing 2-foot-thick walls of adobe. Passing beneath hand-carved stone arches with finely-executed artistic appointments are a plus. An interior courtyard with a fountain would also be very nice. I imagine life in such a structure is secure, cool and quiet. Where one can scamper about unencumbered by raiment, if the fancy strikes.
Mexico's central highlands including the state of Michoacán is full of houses, churches and government buildings dating from the 1500s. The early 1500s. Just the kind of visual texture I like.
Submitted for your approval: those two vertical photos down on the left show glimpses of a 16th-century muleteer's home in Pátzcuaro, now the fancy bed-&-breakfast Hotel Mansion Iturbe. A girl could live here.
Next, directly below, are two views of some commercial property, so to speak. Details of a former Pátzcuaro convent, later turned into a hospital, now an artisans' enclave:
Check out how the stonemasons laid the pavers in one of the patio areas of the convent complex. It may be a bit hard to see in the photos down over there to the left of this here excellent text, but some pavers are laid flat the traditional way; then some smaller bits are laid on end to create a refreshing textural counterpoint. Like so, by the large planter pot, and in the second photo, aiming toward the fountain from each corner of the courtyard it's centered in:
Now directly below, we have a couple views of another former Michoacán convent that went through many incarnations – and was even abandoned for a couple decades – before being revived as a very beautiful community center. This place covers at least one square city block, and has crenellated arches like these all over the place:
It seems like in this central region of Mexico, even the government offices enjoy occupying the former mansions of the Spanish colonialists. It's not just the federal bureaucrats who work in 465 year old buildings on the World Heritage Site registry; the state and city employees can get some historic action, too. For example, if you're a government worker in the city of Morelia, you might be pushing paper in places like these:
Not exactly a prairie-dog town of cubicles, eh?
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