15 minute read
Yucatán at Home: Living Large
Living large in a: • Glamorous casona • Rustic hacienda • Quirky quinta
TEXT LEE STEELE
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Home on the hacienda
A British couple finds tranquility, and lots of space to raise their son, after they restore and settle into a historic estate
Before Richard and Lena Nichols rebuilt Hacienda Dzbikak, the giant estate in Umán had been in a state of deterioration for five decades. The last exciting thing to happen there was a fire that had devastated the warehouse.
Their timing was good. It was 2005, and property bargains could still be had. Since then, Richard has been bullish on Yucatán.
“I think the cost of living is important,” Richard says to preface an even bigger concern. “There’s security, and we’re more safe here in Mérida than in London or any British city.”
In their previous lives, Richard — whose mother is Mexican — had a tortilla factory in London. After that, he imported Corona beer throughout Europe. Lena worked in finance. But Mexico was always in his peripheral field of vision.
“All my life I’ve been coming here on holiday, and I’ve always monitored Mexico in the back of my brain,” he says. Since the early 2000s, he reckons that Mexico and Britain have switched places when it comes to quality of life. “The future prospects of Yucatán look great, and Europe’s in a tailspin at the moment.”
With the hacienda and its 12 acres, there has been plenty of space to raise their son, who is now 14.
There’s nothing much in the historical record about the Hacienda Dzbikak, Mayan for “written with fire.” It is traced to at least 1714 and it was likely a cattle ranch before the henequen boom. Today, some chickens, turkeys, a half-dozen sheep, a large dog and a house cat with an In stagram page and a bell around its neck are the only animals left.
The more historic rooms are lushly decorated, layered with ornaments, books and art. None of it is original to the hacienda. Roughly a third of the furniture, which suits the oldest rooms so well, came from local antique shops. A third they had custom built, and the final third was shipped from London, Richard explains.
It was six years before the property was ready to move in. Today, they rent it out for weddings and corporate events, and it was nearly the setting for an MTV “Big Brother”-type reality show before COVID shut down production. There is an outbuilding in which the family can retreat when paying guests are enjoying the facilities.
The payoff is all the space and privacy — at least between events.
“It’s a lovely environment for children to run wild and safe,” says Richard. “And if you can — for those who are going slightly off grid, if you like, and trying to get away — take time out from the madness in the modern world, it’s perfect.”
The well-tended grounds of Hacienda Dzbikak have been used for all kinds of events, including a music festival.
Always in style
New York fashion designer Jenne Maag coveted one of those historic-center mansions since the early 1980s. Now in her 18th year living in one of them, her glamorous home is still a work in progress.
Above, antiques fill the front rooms of the casona while her dog and one of many rescue cats lounge near the indoor reflecting pool.
Texas-born Jenne Maag is known in the fashion world for her eponymous SoHo boutique. A lesser-known project of hers began almost 20 years ago when she snapped up a romantically ornate casona on Calle 47 in Mérida.
“What do you know about the history of the house?” I ask. “Nothing,” comes the quick reply.
“I bought it online without coming to look at it in 2004,” Maag says. “When I called them they said somebody has bought it already, so I asked ‘Did they leave a check?’ And they said no. And I said, ‘I’ll send you one today.’ So I sent them a check.”
“I sold all my houses and just kept this to live in. I didn’t know anything. I didn’t know anyone in Mérida,” Jenne says.
She has no regrets for going big when most expats were purchasing modest homes.
“My friends have all upgraded their houses here since I’ve been here,” she adds. “I’m the only one that has kept the same house because I bought what I wanted.”
Much of the furniture in one seating area comes from her West 57th Street apartment facing Carnegie Hall in New York City. She’s also owned homes in Cornwall Bridge, Connecticut; and Chianti, Italy. But since her first time here on a vacation in 1982, she had dreamed of a house in Mérida.
“It was really great,” Jenne recalls. “For sale was just mansion after mansion, all in disrepair, which I loved. So I always said I’d like to have a house there.”
She’s improved an already perfect house. Jenne has expanded the house from two bedrooms to five, now at 9,000 square feet, complete with a striking reflecting pool that runs alongside the downstairs bedrooms.
The rear garden was recently refined with a fountain and stone walls. For planters, she has five busts along the pathway. Behind the pool are her “Nefertitis,” three regal ladies. They are a testament to her eye for talent.
“I had those heads carved. And the stone carver had never done a head before,” Jenne tells me. “He didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak Spanish. But I told him what I wanted.”
The rear of the house looms large over the garden, caged on elegant and ornate metalwork. She points at the “opium den” — what she calls an extravagant lounge upstairs.
The previous owner and original renovator, Raymond, has left Mérida for the United States, his legacy being around 10 beautiful homes in the Centro. Two have become hotels, Jenne informs me.
“When I die or sell, or whatever, they’ll turn this into a hotel,” Jenne says. “I think this is the best house he did.”
The so-called upstairs “opium den” overlooks a newly refurbished garden that’s both formal and whimsical. Busts fashioned into planters were carved under Jenne Maag’s direction.
PHOTO: COURTESY
Enjoy retirement in Mérida in the company of friends
Casona Nikte’ Boutique Senior Living is a community aimed at those 55 or over and looking to make Mérida their home away from home. Whether you are looking to spend a month, a year, or more, Casona Nikte’ combines the best that Yucatán has to offer with 24-hour bilingual support.
Unlike hotels or rentals, Casona Nikte’ has created a space where care and community are its guiding values.
Located in a grand 19th-century casona in Mérida’s Santiago neighborhood, Casona Nikte’ offers all of the comforts of home and then some. Its carefully manicured open spaces and pool are perfect for yoga, meditation, painting or simply hanging out with friends.
But aside from beautiful surroundings, what really makes Casona Nikte’ stand out is its friendly 24-hour support system spearheaded by a team of highly qualified nurses and concierges.
Another important service offered by Casona Nikte’ is its legal concierge service which assists its guests in connecting with specialists to help take care of complicated necessities like the procurement of resident visas.
“What people need most sometimes is a friendly, helping hand and we are committed to always being there when we are needed. This support is not limited to medical needs, as we place great emphasis on emotional wellbeing through a holistic model which encourages both fun and growth, ” says Marifer Gómez Crespo, Casona Nikte’s manager.
Another key element of life at Casona Nikte’ is their emphasis on helping their guests experience Yucatán’s culture through day trips, cooking classes, and everyday interactions with the facility’s staff.
“Embracing Yucatán’s rich culture is part of what makes living here so special,” says Geancarlo Marín, Casa Nikte’s director and a veteran of the hospitality industry with more than 20 years’ experience. “There is so much to see do and taste, and we are always up to organize day trips to beaches, archaeological sites, or local markets.”
Part of embracing local culture means being exposed to the best of the region’s
cuisine, though alternative options are also always available. Three meals and two snacks are offered daily, all prepared with both nutrition and flavor in mind.
Casona Nikte’ has six luxurious rooms, each with its own ensuite bathroom, air conditioner, and refrigerator. The shared kitchen
is also always open so that residents may prepare a meal or snack just the way they like it.
In case of appointments with first-class medical specialists, Casona Nikte’s staff will arrange transfers to the city’s best clinics and hospitals.
“Needing medical attention is stressful enough as it is, but needing it in a country where you may not speak the language and don’t have family is even more complicated. That is where we come in; our residents will never be left alone. We are committed to offering the very best personalized service every step of the way,” says Casona Nikte’ partner Julio César Arroyo.
Casona Nikte’ is a pet-friendly facility, but it's best to first consult with them regarding availability.
Learn more
For more information on Casona Nikte’, pricing and all other inquiries email info@casonanikte.com or give them a call at + 52 9995321621. Also, feel free to check out CasonaNikte.com for more photos and other details.
Music flowers on the quinta
A dynamic designer finds fertile ground for helping children reconnect with Dzemul’s music heritage
Marjorie Skouras and Bruno Bardavid are never really alone in their large ranch an hour northeast of Mérida.
PHOTOS THIS PAGE COURTESY MARJORIE SKOURAS La Escuela de Musica Kookix grew quickly at the quinta, where a modest school building has broken ground.
When designer Marjorie Skouras and her husband, Bruno Bardavid, moved to Mérida, the grand Centro Histórico home they put together merited a spread in Architectural Digest. Now, the California duo is in the countryside with an entirely new emphasis: bringing out the musical talent in local children.
Lured to Yucatán by fellow Los Angeles designers, they joined the community of artists and designers who found this part of Mexico a perfect outlet for their creativity. Marjorie knew right away it was an ideal match.
“We checked into the hotel, went outside, and I said this is gonna be the place, yeah,” says Marjorie.
But several years later, they’re not in exactly the same place. They have set up housekeeping about an hour northeast of the city in rural Dzemul, on Quinta Kookix, growing henequen. The crops take years to mature, but when they do, they will be sold to an artist whose output requires trucks full of the fibrous plant.
Their new house is a plain block structure with surrealist murals. Inside and out are colorful vignettes from Marjorie’s collections. It’s an artist’s version of a ranch house, where guests are greeted by their pet pig, Tina, who roams freely, nuzzling guests.
The atmosphere is very relaxing — attributable to both the home and the hosts. Although we appear entirely isolated from everything, children from nearby start to appear, some carrying musical instruments. It draws our attention to a the beginnings of a building across the field, space for the music school they’ve begun: Escuela de Música Kookix.
The school is a private, not-for-profit project that offers free music classes for children of all ages, including the instruments of their choice, started by Marjorie and Bruno on their ranch in September 2021 with three students ranging in age from 6 to 10. Although some funds and instruments have been donated, Marjorie and Bruno have financed the project personally.
The school arose after state arts funding was slashed, eliminating cultural programs in public schools. Dzemul, like most of Mexico, has a rich musical and dance tradition. Its folkloric jarana dancers are known statewide, and three generations ago, Dzemul had an 80-piece orchestra called the Clave Azul, or Blue Note.
“We were aided by our friend Eduardo Zarracino from the Hacienda San Francisco in Dzidzantún, who has been working with the children of his community for more than 15 years and took his group to perform at the White House not once, but twice,” Marjorie writes in a letter that lays out the music school’s backstory.
After the first class, they took the children and walked to a community of families evicted from a hacienda where they had lived and worked for generations.
“We walked door to door to explain what we were offering and that all were welcome, accompanied by percussion instruments. One week later, we held an open house with a musical demonstration and a piñata. The following week our little group had grown to nine students.” By Christmas, enrollment snowballed to 14, and a choir had been formed and had six songs, including one in Mayan, under their belts. They were invited to perform at the Christmas tree lighting ceremony for the neighboring town of Cansahcab and received a certificate of thanks from the mayor, Marjorie recalls.
Later in December, several students were invited to participate in a traditional Mayan musical performance at the Teatro Peon Contreras, Merida’s beautiful opera house. Three children had never even been to Mérida, the state’s capital.
By 2022, children expressed an increasing interest in learning to play instruments. Marjorie posted on Facebook asking if anyone had any used instruments
they could donate. The response was overwhelming: generous cash donations and musical instruments from around the globe — violins, cellos, guitars, ukuleles, clarinets, recorders, a transversal flute, trumpets, a trombone, a beautiful keyboard, percussion instruments, three electric guitars with an amp, a mandolin, and a vihuela de Mariachi, an elegant string instrument from Mexico.
To top that off, Steve Katz, one of the founding members of the legendary group Blood, Sweat & Tears, gifted the school with his own guitar.
“For a girl from 1960s San Francisco, this was really, really cool,” Marjorie states.
As of August 2022, the school had 43 students and five instructors. They had broken ground on the northeast corner of the property for five classroom areas, audio-visual facilities, a performance area, and two bathrooms. In the project’s spirit, the contractor and local supplier reduced their fees.
“In a place where every penny counts, everyone who can help is helping,” says Marjorie.
COURTESY MARJORIE SKOURAS
Harvesting creativity
After nearly 17 years in the film business, Marjorie Skouras is a prolific home products designer whose lighting, furniture, and accessories have been featured in magazines including World of Interiors, Architectural Digest, Elle Décor, Vogue, House and Garden, House Beautiful, Harper’s Bazaar and Veranda. She says her aesthetic is informed strongly by her travels, particularly time spent living in Mediterranean countries, Hollywood, and San Francisco.
In 2007, Marjorie was one of Metropolitan Home’s 100 most influential designers. Today, her office and studio are in Mérida, producing current lines and new pieces while working with local artisans and materials. Moreover, Marjorie has lent her vintage clothing collection for an exhibition on view at the Museo de Arte Popular de Yucatán through January 2023. A book on the collection is also underway.
Marjorie’s tenure in film encompassed both management and creative roles in development, production, business affairs, distribution and management. She happens also to be a descendant of the Skouras family, which governed 20th Century-Fox for 30 years.
Online: marjorieskourasdesign.com
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