PHOTO TOUR OF OUR HOUSE
2 Our spiral stair ascends into a seven meter tall domed chimney that beams in reflected sunshine by day. By night this has 125 watts of illumination that is ingeniously generated by a single 25 watt bulb reflected off of four mirrors. This chimney day and night silently extracts heated air using thermal siphon like a hot air balloon rising and expels it out vents adjacent to the domed top. The hot air departing sucks in cool fresh air from below making for economical natural air conditioning.
3 This ceramic tiled room that opens onto the street is far more than a sitting area or parking place. This is our super solar dehydrator where the sun heats and dries the air. Employing large black doors and a tin roof to soak up the suns energy thus setting up a temperature differential and sending the hot air rushing up through the covered gap you can see running the entire length of the building adjacent to the steel girder. The rising dehumidified air that exits sucks in cool fresh air from our jungle garden and low louvered vents.
In the cooler dry season of the year this room is used to heat the house. The only difference then is that the windows and doors to this room are opened during the day and the northern exposure garden side is closed. In warm weather we do just the opposite and close out the heated air of this room and open the tree shaded garden side.
We call this downstairs house our “gruta” or cave because it is refreshingly comfortable.
Our location here in Mérida at nearly twenty one degrees north latitude is ideally suited to the seasons. At the very hottest time of year in May, June and July the sun passes to the north of our ecology home for about two months so that our super solar dehydrator does not overheat especially at a time when it is not needed.
4 Hammock hooks abound everywhere in our home.
Even the little wall mounted coach lights have mirrored reflectors to double their luminescent efficiency.
Another feature we built into our ecology home is sloping tiled floors throughout that make cleaning a breeze where water naturally flows out.
5 Our seldom used ceiling fans are all equipped with silicon controlled rectifier controls that optimize their efficiency at all speed settings.
6 Within our cool “gruta” downstairs home natural light is reflected off of large wall mounted mirrors that also enhance our view of the jungle garden beyond our screened in patio room. This is where in our hammocks we spend warm afternoons reading until our books become too heavy and then we tranquilly snooze.
7 Nearly all year many pleasant tropical evenings are spent in my computerized office with the doors and windows wide open to capitalize on the delightful garden fresh air before going off to enjoy our hydro therapy Jacuzzi prior to turning in.
8 In the downstairs cool “gruta” wife Jane in her active office produces computer miracles with her multitasking abilities.
9 Viewed from our cool shaded hammock equipped screened in patio room our jungle garden flourishes in natural composted soil where wild birds and butterflies freely fly.
10 The dry season sees the foliage thin while nature adjusts to drop seeds waiting for rain.
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When the rain arrives the vibrant foliage exuberantly springs into
harmonious action.
12 Seasons are all part of the natural cycle of life that makes our secluded sanctuary special.
13 Looking in from our lovely cool screened in patio where we sling our hammocks you can easily see the natural illumination flooding in from the tall chimney in our super solar dehydrator room.
14 Enter our canopy jungle garden where pleasant shade abounds from our towering tropical fruit trees. Everything in the garden was started from seed and only nourished by natural composted soil using no chemicals or insecticides.
15 Amazingly our ecology home sanctuary and canopy jungle garden are well within the city where plentiful public transport is twenty meters from our front door and we are in the heart of Mérida’s “restaurant row” one block away on the famous Paseo de Montéjo.
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18 This is our upstairs looking in from the screened in patio to the living room and kitchen beyond. Designed to capitalize on temperature differentials to either heat or cool the fifteen foot, five meter high vaulted ceiling is equipped with easy to open and close louvered windows that are the key to this process. When the French doors in the foreground with their one-way mirrored glass are opened in conjunction with the upper louvered windows the natural air flow is so intense it feels like you are in the prop wash of an airplane ready to take off. This incredible air flow is natural without using any fans. The process is exactly like a hot air balloon that hoists its load aloft.
In the cooled times of the year we reverse the process closing the upper windows and French doors. Then we extract heat from our super solar dehydrator room below through the door you can see where the natural light is brightly beaming in. That warm air is then trapped here to take full advantage of nature.
All of this thermo siphoning is accomplished merely by the opening and closing of the proper windows and doors.
19 A sanctuary of serenity and relaxation on our upstairs screened in patio that overlooks our jungle garden is equipped with the essentials to optimize priceless moments. While wild birds and butterflies find a home in the garden we have the requisites to capitalize on this unique ambiance. Seated at our dinning table or rocking in our rocking chairs or just reposing in one of our many hammocks makes our many options heavenly.
20 Looking out from our upstairs screened in patio this is the tranquil view we take pleasure in. It is incredibly easy to totally forget that you are in a major city and not far off in a remote jungle while taking in the serene tropical rain forest below. We are serenaded by a cacophony of wild avian confabulations and blessed by the sweet essences of tropical flower scented sea breezes.
21 Our upstairs patio takes advantage of the salubrious tropical climate where the French doors are open most of the year. Here you have a view of the entrance to our bedroom and walk-in closet. The closet is illuminated and ventilated by its own dome topped chimney, making it the driest place in Mérida. Another feature we were happy to incorporate into our ecology home is the partially covered side patio you can see through the door at center. Besides one of the six bathrooms in our home we also have a clothes line where we have the option of hanging things out in the sun or even drying them under cover in case of rain. From this little patio we have a built in ladder that leads to the rooftop. At the peak of the roof you can see the cathedral in the city center five and a half kilometers away to the south. Also incorporated into this little patio is an opening railing where the built in pivotal boom crane makes it very convenient to bring in or take out large objects such as a refrigerator.
22 Looking out to the patio from the bedroom and viewed through our vanity mirror that runs the entire width of the room you will see more hammocks and the dinning table beyond. We have capacity to swing twenty-five hammocks on our premises. They can be furled and unfurled in seconds, used as seats, recliners, loungers and of course beds.
Another interesting feature we incorporated into our ecology home is that all of the ceramic floors are inclined all the way out to the end of the patio where we have scuppers to discharge wash water that naturally goes down hill and ultimately waters our garden.
This room has a high vaulted ceiling exactly like the one in the living room
23 Here you have another example of how light and bright our ecology home is where the natural reflected sunshine is dispersed gently and evenly throughout. If you observe the ceiling you will see one of the several domed and vented chimneys that not only keep the air exchanged without the use of fans but illuminates with no electricity. Along the far west wall you are looking at are located two bathrooms, a walk in closet and book shelves. Each one of these areas has its own domed and vented chimney plus the outside wall is painted gray to absorb the afternoon sun. The net effect of this is bright very dry rooms with natural air exchange and plenty of ultra-violet to insure fresh no-mold storage even in the wettest of seasons.
24 Looking the other way from the same spot as the last photo you have a view of the living room from another prospective. The light in these bright rooms is all reflected and gently gives our home an easygoing ambiance. French doors leading both from the living room and bedroom out to the patio are equipped with, (reflect-a-sol) mirrored plate glass that allow a nice view of the patio and garden but also give a measure of privacy within when closed.
We employ lots of mirrors in our home that make it much brighter and also provide a spacious open sensation. Even the china cabinet you can see on the extreme right is lined with mirrors along with all of the small light fixtures.
26 Natural air cools and natural light floods our home and amazingly our electric bill is one seventh as much as our friends with a conventional house half our size.
27 Apart from our main garden we have another sanctuary isolated and independent containing a microcosm garden and guest house where we luxuriate in our Jacuzzi with hydro-therapy with cool well water in summer. This is one of our favorite features of our ecology friendly home and on occasion we may indulge in the Jacuzzi half dozen times a day. After an exhilarating bicycle ride or just before bed time this is pampered treatment at it’s finest.
The guest house in this little sanctuary is the coolest location on the entire premises because of the thermo siphon heat exchange coupled with dense foliage shrouding the upstairs patio garden where we frequently swing in our hammocks. The roof top shade is provided by a variety of vines that reach up from the garden below and cover a trellis that forms walls and ceiling above the roof. The beauty of this is that the flowering vines change color with the seasons and in the cooler part of the year I merely trim them back to let the sun beam in and heat the house along with our solar hot water heater.
28 This light bright room with its doomed chimney above and mirrored walls incorporates a pleasant view of the jungle garden from our hydro therapy Jacuzzi. The ultra violet light you see beaming down into the Jacuzzi is entering one of the domed vented roof top chimneys.
29 By night our hydro therapy Jacuzzi gives yet another view. Using numerous small wall lamps you can see in the photo with reflector mirrors and a dimmer control we enjoy romantic times viewing our garden with its subdued luminescence. Notice the large louvered window that opens in three different parts to naturally optimize air flow.
30 Ascending to our roof-top getaway sanctuary garden is like stepping beyond the jungle and into a haven of refuge. Mornings here are like solitude supreme only with all the amenities of civilization at our fingertips. Evenings here begin with year round spectacular sunsets and are followed by celestial gazing with gentle onshore sea breezes.
The density of foliage nearly conceals the stair leading to the roof top garden and above it you will notice the lush mass of pink flowered vines that gives soothing shade. Shortly the season of vibrant blue morning glories will change our roof-top getaway sanctuary garden…a natural process that is ongoing.
31 In the springtime before the pink coral vines you see above enshroud the rooftop we employ a roll-out canopy to give us shade when we desire it.
By July the vines have enshrouded the rooftop trellis and the canopy is no longer needed.
Wife Jane has collected eight different types of indigenous climbing vines that flower in various seasonal colors to keep our roof-top getaway sanctuary garden decorated. All of these climbing vines are planted in the ground below so they can benefit from the water we recycle from our Jacuzzi. In the dry season it sustains them.
33 This is a real jungle. Looking down from our roof-top getaway sanctuary garden you can see through the dense foliage our palapa roof to the right and the main house beyond.
34 Above our guest house a second roof of brightly flowered vines casts a heavenly shadow down upon our remote jungle sanctuary where we have our morning tea and read. Many times we linger here to have morning coffee while listening to audio books or just enjoying each others company while listening to the wild birds singing.
35 Here you get a good look at the density of foliage enshrouding our garden that is the product of natural composting and no chemicals.
Another plus we enjoy as a result of our seasonal vine covered roof top is cool showers in summer and warm in winter. We have not ignited our water heater in years thanks to these lovely flowering vines we trim back in winter making our home environmentally friendly. Ascending from our roof top garden the view of tropical lushness is astounding. The bright pink coral vine or San Diego in Spanish you see in the foreground is indigenous and flourishes seasonally rebounding in summer and fall. Wife Jane has planted eight different kinds of vines that are native to Yucatan and each has its own distinctive season and color. Soon the brilliant Dutch blue morning glories will appear. We have three different colored varieties of morning glories. The different climbing vines naturally come and go with the seasons.
Our ecological designed home didn’t just fall out of the sky.
This is not for everybody.
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