La Ermita
The Hermitage Is A Special Mountain Retreat Made For Reflection And Reconnecting With Your Center
Located only 20 minutes from Guanajuato City and 45 minutes from San Miguel Allende.
You enter the property called El Milagro through a gate across from a restaurant on the opposite side of the road. Then drive along a winding road before it reaches the straight road, fenced on the right, that leads to La Ermita.
A Self-Sufficient Home Ready For You To Enjoy
La Ermita is located at the base of a mountain, so that if the mountain road should ever wash out, your entrance will never be affected. In the rainy season, between early June and late September the oak forest is in full leaf, so that the house itself is invisible until you find yourself within yards of it.
The first thing you will see is the left-hand side of the house with a door that opens to an immense water tank that holds 5000 liters. The roof is designed so that rainwater runs directly into this tank to be purified by colloidal silver balls. If the tank should ever lack adequate water, just call 412 100 5090 and a tank truck will fill it for about $3000 pesos.
The entire house is faced with local stone. Solar panels and batteries on the roof provide electricity for a fridge, lights, and small appliances. It is possible to hook up to public electricity, but the house was built to stand off the grid with no unsightly stanchions.
At the front of the house, a steel door opens with two magnetic keys. There has never been a burglary and no one has ever even tried to break in. The forest is its own paradise, but the house is a paradise of a different order.
Though it makes a modest footprint from the outside, inside it feels large and airy, having been designed on the model of an urban loft. To achieve this, there are no interior walls. Instead, usage and furniture create the necessary subdivisions. One short wall demarcates the kitchen, with an earth-colored concrete counter, ample storage above and below, and room for a microwave, fridge, sink, and workspace.
At the opposite end, between two bookcases with cabinets and a shelf above there is a couch/bed faced by two vintage chairs with footrests. The bookcases conceal deep closets for storage. But the most spectacular side of the space is a nearly full-length glass window wall that overlooks a cascade in the rainy season. The cascade empties into a natural stone pool, edged by plants growing on ledges in the rock. The water then flows into an arroyo, meeting up with another arroyo a short distance on. The water in the pool is icy cold, but, after the initial shock, wonderfully refreshing on a hot day. The temperature inside the house is never uncomfortable in summer and can be warmed in winter by the heater.
At the center of the space stands an immense antique table, usable for both work and dining. If more space is wanted, a room can be added or a separate building situated nearby.
A Nature Lover's Paradise
Hiking through the woods, you will see a succession of native wildflowers: ground orchids, begonias, zinnias, and innumerable others whose names you may enjoy discovering. Wild mushrooms, many deliciously edible, appear in the fall. Ravens and burrowing owls are easily spotted along with flocks of bright blue birds. There are many others, gray and brown, camouflaged by their feathers as they flit through the forest. Fauna include frogs, toads, lizards and turtles, rabbits and hares, deer (the latter known by their hoof prints since they forage at night), bats, coyotes and gray foxes. If you come upon one of these latter, consider yourself blessed since they mostly avoid human contact. Butterflies, including groups of electric blue ones, abound.
Other houses have been built on the mountain, but La Ermita is situated on 5 hectares of forest (over 12 1/3 acres) so that privacy is assured. You can cook meals there or bring them with you or else drive 15 minutes to nearby La Sauceda where delicious yet inexpensive comida casera (home cooking) can be found.
Folks who work may feel the need of a getaway, and others who have retired may find, to their surprise, that they are as busy as they were when they were working. La Ermita has been designed and located to meet the needs of both.
