Photo Credit: Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
In an architectural landscape where trends and efficiency too often overshadow individuality and craftsmanship, there’s been a shift toward design that harmonizes innovative approaches with a sense of place. But, what do you get when you bring the mind of a starchitect to a location with a sense of place so rich it’s celebrated around the world? Casa Legorreta.
Named for the late internationally-acclaimed Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta—the first Latin AIA Gold Medal winner—the abode is the only starchitect-designed residence on the market in San Miguel de Allende, a UNESCO World Heritage village, and one of only two around the world.
Photo Credit: Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
And it’s no wonder why Legoretta homes are so hard to come by: the great architect—who studied under virtuosos like José Villagrá and Luis Barragán—developed a practice so prolific that he eventually surpassed his renowned predecessors with designs across the architectural spectrum for banks, public buildings, hotels, colleges, museums and private homes around the world. A Legorreta home can only be compared to the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe, or Philip Johnson—artistic rarities that scarcely see the housing market. The starchitect’s first U.S. commission, an L.A. home built for actor Ricardo Montalbán in 1985, sold for $38M in 2012.
Photo Credit: Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
The owners of Casa Legorreta worked directly with Ricardo Legorreta to bring the architectural gem to San Miguel de Allende in 2005, and it combines the architect’s signature design elements with craftsmanship that fully embraces the village’s robust essence. In fact, San Miguel de Allende has been showered with accolades for its rich heritage. The city was named the “Best City in the World” by Travel & Leisure magazine, the “Best Small City in the World” by Conde Nast Traveler, and the home’s facade-fronting Aldama street was voted as the 11th prettiest street in the world by Architectural Digest in 2022.
Photo Credit: Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
Legorreta’s characteristic indigenous craftsmanship is evident throughout the property with its striated colonnade walls, water stairs, sunny textures and colors, and unifying concrete spheres around the grounds. Supremely private outdoor spaces undeniably reflect the Latin American tendency to safeguard private space, while interiors boast a temazcal-like foyer, a central courtyard defined by a water-rill-like fountain, and expansive glass doors that invite indoor-outdoor living for an authentic feel of the temperate city.
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Upstairs, the village’s sense of place continues harmoniously into the master suite, which features views of the iconic Parroquia church, a glass-parapet balcony overlooking the swimming pool, and an in-suite library complete with a Frank Gehry Cross Check chair, just one of many furniture pieces in the home that carry a legacy. The structure's vast roof terrace is also home to an art studio.
Photo Credit: Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
Combining the provision of an architectural icon with the unique lifestyle of international treasure San Miguel de Allende, Casa Legorreta is truly one-of-a-kind. Showings can be scheduled for the home, listed at $6.995M, starting on March 28, 2023.
