Colonial Mansion for Sale in Por 73 and 75, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico

Enormous Grand Spanish Colonial Residence for Sale

This property would make an incredible showcase home. We have fully restored it to its colonial splendour, now all it needs are your own final touches. We have undertaken a full structural repair, and all ceilings, floors and walls are in excellent condition.

There is quite probably no house with a lot size this large in all of the rest of Merida, with 2,381 sqm (ca 25,000 square feet) of land. The house itself is approximately 450 sqm (ca 5,000 square feet) of covered space.

The house is built in an L-shape, with 20 metres of width at the front. The house extends back approximately 40 metres, with all rooms giving out onto the courtyard, with its wonderfully restored old colonial floors--some of the tiles were imported from France most likely around the turn of the century. With its imposing facade and ornate grill work, there is no mistaking the grandeur of this residence.

This property is extremely well-located, as it is only two blocks from the very popular square of La Hermita de Santa Isabel, which is now one of the hottest residential areas in the centre of Merida. The mansion is also only 3 blocks from the attractive and leafy square of San Juan. It is 6 blocks from Zocalo, the main square.

The property would make a wonderful home, and we would be happy to share our design ideas with you, as well as complete the project (we estimate that for between $100,000 and $150,000 inclusive, you would be able to develop it fully). It would also make an excellent art gallery, studio space, hotel, or even a condo development.

There is a unique feature to this house connected to its history as the home of the water seller for the entire neighborhood. It has what is probably the largest cistern of any house in Merida. Originally designed to collect rainwater, it offers more than ample water holding capacity to handle an Olympic sized swimming pool, massive garden irrigation, and the needs of up to 50 hotel rooms. The tank is approximately 10 metres deep, 8 metres across, and about 25 metres long!

This property is being sold in shell state. We have fully restored and repaired it, and all it needs now is for the new owner to decide what they want to do with it, which rooms go where, etc. It would be possible to add an entire building in the back, and also an upper floor set back from the street, as well as enormous swimming pool, tennis court, gardens, etc. It may also be possible to acquire adjacent houses to further expand the lot, or to create separate entrances to the property.

Practically, what this means is that once you have decided how you wish to use the space, you need to install the electrics and plumbing, as well as make any decorative changes you would wish to do. This sounds like a lot, and in many places it would be, but this is Mexico, and work is relatively cheap and of very good quality. We believe that you could install plumbing, electrics, swimming pool, fully landscape the gardens for $100,000 or less. We would be happy to do the work, and we could deliver it finished within 6 months, guaranteed.

All of the external wooden doors and windows that face both out into the street and into the courtyard have been restored, and look absolutely stunning. They are of a hardwood that is difficult to buy nowadays and of a very high quality.

We have repaired the roof, all the walls, the floors, and wherever there was any damage, and have built up the walls between this house and its neighbors, to maximise the privacy, and have painted it simply, to highlight the original ceiling beams, and to highlight the wonderful colours in the floor tiles.

All of the floors are original colonial tiles, dating back to the 1800's, and are in excellent condition throughout.

We have fully cleaned the septic tank which has its own runoff tank which is perhaps 30 metres deep, so there will never be a risk of you running out of space there.

There are almost never properties of this scale available anymore in Merida, and when they are they are much more expensive. At a price of $147 per square metre on the lot size, this compares extremely favourably to the Merida average of $250 per square metre, making this house excellent value. There is a similar property which is not quite as large and which is an absolute ruin that is being sold about 4 blocks away, that is on the market for $350,000! This property is priced to sell.

It would be possible to build a wing in the back that could easily handle 20 rooms and do so in keeping with the style, more could be possible if desired, and this would leave room for a dramatic tropical garden, pools, fountains, etc. This property could also make a fabulous home, as there are almost no houses left for sale in Centro with their old carriage entrances, and such grandeur. It is a true Spanish Colonial Gem.

We are a small design and build team with experience in hotels and quality properties. We are experienced in the local market, and are professional consultants to the hotel trade. We would be happy to work with an eventual buyer to help realise the full potential of this site, and do the work if so required.

Merida is a wonderful small city, undergoing a renaissance. Rated by Fortune magazine in Spring 2005 as one of the 5 best places to invest in real estate in the world, there has been a buoyant and steady growth seen in the market. The Real Estate Market in Merida has also been recently written about in the New York Times and The Miami Herald. With virtually non-existent crime, 330+ days of sunshine per year, excellent beaches a half hour away, a low cost of living, excellent local hospitals, friendly people, great seafood, a vibrant cultural and arts scene, and a baby boom generation looking for places to retire, and a real estate market in the US which is losing steam, Merida has a long upward growth trend ahead of it, and this has only just started.

Finished, this home will easily appreciate handsomely in value, and should be worth well over a million dollars within 2 years time.