One of the more interesting towns in Baja California Sur
is the date palm oasis of San Ignacio,
which lies near the center of Baja both north-south and east-west.
Because it is on neither the Pacific or the Sea of Cortez,
it has missed some of the tourist development that has centered along the coasts.
The springs that provide the water in this small valley have created a lush environment
and an obvious place to locate a town in the otherwise harsh desert.
The large building in the center of the above photo is the mission
which I covered in the previous three posts:
In the zocolo opposite the mission is this brightly painted facade.
A short block away is Casa Leree which is a B&B, bookstore, and gallery,
as well as a wealth of information on the town and it's history,...
...and around the corner what a pleasing entrance to the courtyard.
Parts of Casa Leree are made from adobe bricks,
as well as this nearby building.
If this old adobe didn't have this inviting wrap around portal,
it would not have been nearly as interesting to me,
and more importantly it helps protect the adobe walls from rain damage.
The above adobe is covered with the faux cut stone stucco
which is very common here...
...and I love the cement arches with the sunburst,
again applied over the adobe and not intended to be structural.
The heavy stucco at the bottom makes a good splash guard.
This stone wall and buttress with the almost perfect corners
is part of the mission and built from local basalt.
And the above section of stone with small stones in the mortar joints
is common throughout Mexico.
To see more of this style go to my post
or go to LABELS on the right side bar and click on
Stonework In Mexico.
I love the door and window treatments in this brick building,
but notice a 100 years of water damage along the bottom of the brick.
Once fired brick became available they seem to have supplanted adobe
as the favorite building material.
Sadly, today cement blocks seem to have taken over.
If one were to spend the hot summer here
they would notice the adobe to have the coolest interiors,
while the cement block would be like ovens. Hmmm.
Out in the date palms is this charming gate made from the stalks of palm fronds.
Back to the zocolo is the back patio of this welcoming house...
...and off to the side a sitting area...
...and a design statement aided by color and a palm trunk planter (right).
Further back in the yard...
...is the zoo...
...which are metal sculptures beautifully painted.
In the next, and last post, on San Ignacio
we will look closer at adobe:
