by Cathi and Steven House

We had traveled well before we came to Mexico the first time. We had seen many of the world's great wonders, architectural masterpieces, extraordinary cities, humble dwellings. We had met fascinating people, immersed ourselves in their cultures, breathed deeply of their aromas, let their voices and language move through our hearts like music. But something surprised and overwhelmed us when our feet first stepped on Mexican soil.

It's hard to explain to someone who has not had this experience how very deeply Mexico can get into your soul - if your heart is open. Now, 36 years after that first step - we still feel the wonder. Our hearts and minds continue to open in new ways. We've come to realize that we are not "discovering" new facets of this amazing country, but that Mexico is helping us discover ourselves, over and over, more deeply each day.

It might be the chaotic noise of a bustling market or the quiet peace of an empty church. No matter the place - Mexico makes us feel, with every atom of our existence, that we are alive and experiencing life so much more deeply than we ever have anywhere else.
 

Markets in their more traditional form, as shops, overflow with beautifully crafted goods - hand blown glass, flowing clothes, hand painted and sequined jackets, bags, shoes - whatever your heart desires can be found in the many shops and markets of San Miguel.

Life in Mexico is a dance, never more beautiful than the stroll through a market with all its richness of color, texture and aroma - and with the promise of finding something special.

Aromas of roasting meats and corn, fresh strawberries in cream, tacos, gorditas, cakes, fresh fruit juices, luscious pastries, pizzas, churros and potato chips hot from their vats... all swirl around women diligently preparing nopales by removing their spines for ease of use once home - work that has continued since the first peoples occupied this part of the world. San Miguel's markets are a lively alternative to pristine air-conditioned supermarkets with their access to produce from further afield. This colorful, noisy environment turns buying necessities into one of life's joys.

“Beauty was the aura surrounding the object, the consequence of the secret relation between its making and its meaning.” Octavio Pa

Although San Miguel's historical patterns are protected in the crafts and traditional architecture, there are stunning modern goods available - from hand-blown glass to clothing, shoes, bags, pastries, lighting, furniture, carved stone sinks - an infinite array of beautiful products designed and made by local contemporary craftsmen - items that rival anything you might see in any of the great cities of Europe. These goods and their makers create the balance that makes San Miguel so rich and lush, whatever you need or want - more than you can even imagine - there it is, ready to go home with you.

Markets pop up at every turn in San Miguel - from the single man with a stack of hats towering above his head to the iconic balloon sellers in the Jardin, to the flower vendors that appear for every celebration, to chic shops offering stylish wraps, bags, shoes, to the basket sellers, the freshly harvested honey, and the old women with their handmade dolls.

Tarps billow in the breeze, brilliant colors overlapping in abstract patterns against the sky above markets large and small. Their undulating movement is a slow-motion dance above the chaos of people and products in that eternal cycle of commerce, the make-grow-sell that is the most basic exchange between people on earth. Markets are the pulsating center of life and in San Miguel they sustain and nourish both body and soul.

San Miguel de Allende: the soul of mexico is available from your favorite bookstores including Aurora Books and La Biblioteca Tesoros in San Miguel, or from many of your favorite internet sites including Schiffer, Amazon, Barnes & Nobel and Thrift Books. If you would like an autographed copy of our new book, please send us an email request and you can buy it directly from us at steven@houseandhouse.com.

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Cathi and Steven House, the founders and principals of House + House Architects, have received over 50 design awards for their work in California, Mexico, Africa and the Caribbean, and have been featured in prestigious publications throughout the world including two monographs, House + House Architects: Choreographing Space and Houses in the Sun: light movement embrace. Their studies of vernacular architecture have been published in Mediterranean Villages: an architectural journey, and in Villages of West Africa: an intimate journey across time, which document the people, villages and unique architecture. Cathi and Steven lecture extensively and created CASA, The Center for Architecture, Sustainability + Art, a study abroad program based in Mexico.

House + House Architects' work reflects Cathi and Steven's passion for soulfully designed buildings intimately responsive to their site and to their inhabitants.

www.houseandhouse.com

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