Adobe

For those who have asked about our construction projects...

We purchased an adobe apt in an old historic building called St Vicente de Paul, condo-ized about 10 years ago, to fix up for a rental.

It's 2 bedroom/1 bath.

Outside of building, across the river and the stairs to Calle Larga.

Bathroom window looks to the street.

It's in the UNESCO-designated area, fronting the Tomebamba river, 2nd floor with a lovely courtyard. The building itself was built in the late 1880's, originally as a recovery unit for one of the first hospitals in Cuenca. The hospital is still active in the complex, now a military hospital, along with a medical museum open to the public (see earlier blog entry about the museum.)

It's fascinating to work with walls over 4 ft thick! We're having fun learning about adobe construction and working within UNESCO and the colonial commission's regulations. Their job is to protect and preserve the historic areas of the city.

The apt needed work... mostly cosmetic. We had workers put back a window that had disappeared in earlier times, to allow more light and air.

We added hot water to the unit. The only hot water was a 'suicide' shower... the kind of unit that US soldiers serving in Iraq have died from... totally unsafe!)

We had the old laundry sinks on the back porch removed to make room for a washer and dryer. Before and now... new tiles on walls and floor...

We fixed the living room ceiling... over time, cane and adobe ceilings 'sag' and get wet and crumble... We hired workers who know all about this type of construction and they replaced and repaired and now it looks brand new!

The kitchen has been updated..... some new tiles on the wall and floor and a new countertop and we'll add appliances. Stove fan is installed.

Painting is almost done throughout... and we've been looking at furniture and light fixtures. We've lined up workers to sand the plank floors and we'll need to call the drape-cleaning folks (drapes from the previous owner look pretty good).

It's been a fun project and hope to be all done soon.

We'll add more pictures to this post later.