Architectural Digest: Rural Guatemala Edition

As I bike around my site, some houses take my breath away. Usually that’s not a good thing. “What were they thinking?” I ask myself. Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly of rural Guatemalan homes.

First, I love these two colorful homes. I wish Americans painted their houses like this.

Next, these are the huge and hugely gross homes of my town. These people obviously have money from US remittances, but I don’t think they got much value for their investment. In trying to build a house fit for an American, they went too far. Brick, stone, wood, and glass are all lovely touches…but not when you do it all on the same house. The finished product is a gaudy mess.




The mayor from 2004-2008 left quite a footprint on the town. He built himself two adjacent mansions, and he built the four-storey market building.




In other architectural news, the municipality office was burned down in arson during the mayor's term, eliminating all evidence of how municipal funds were spent. (Further irony: the burning municipal building was across the street from the firefighters, but they didn’t have any fire hoses).

The previous houses may be out of your price range. To put some perspective on this tour, here is a sampling of what a more typical house in my town looks like.




My parents are remodeling our house in California. When I return home in July, if the house in any way resembles the homes showcased above, I will move out.