Casa Central

This post is about the Central House, which I will be living in until Friday. It is really a beautiful home, and we already feel very much at home here. I could describe the house for days, but I will let the photos do the talking.

This is the entrance to Casa Central that we use. I took this picture standing in the middle of Calle 20, a fairly quiet side street. The gate is locked after midnight, but we can ring the bell and Frankie will let us in at any time.
 

A giant rubber tree just inside the entrance. Val said it is about 150 years old.

This is the grand staircase. Most of the bedrooms are upstairs, but the boys are downstairs just off the dining room.

This is the first hallway upstairs after the grand staircase. The bathroom is to the left and my room (pictured in the last post) to the right. Another student (not from our group) is staying in room 4 for the week. When she leaves, her room will become a classroom for a few weeks.

This is the bathroom. The toilet--and wastepaper basket--are right behind the door, the sink is to the right, and the huge shower is through the next door.

This is the view from my room of the other bedrooms on the second level. As you can see, it is open to the lower level as well. To the left of the picture, where you can see the light coming in, is the door to the balcony. My window opens onto the balcony as well.
 

This is the balcony. Perfect for relaxing late at night or sunbathing mid-afternoon.

This is the view looking down from my hallway.

And this is the sitting area at the bottom of the grand staircase. It is the part of the main floor that you cannot see on the above picture.
The open door on the right leads to the front porch and another gate. This gate used to be the main entrance, but now faces onto a very busy street (Calle 31). We use the door next to it, which leads to the other entrance on Calle 20 (which I showed in the first photo of this post).



This is the front porch I just mentioned, looking out from that big open door. The gate you see is what used to be the main entrance. As you can see, this porch is perfect for a sunny day, because it is shaded and breezy.


I walked over to the gate and took a picture looking back towards the house.

This is the dining area. You can see it from my room. The hallway just visible to the left leads to the boys' bedrooms and bathroom. To the right is the kitchen. The door in the center leads to another patio and the palapa.





The patio. I walked through those doors, off the patio, then turned around and took a picture. It is pretty, but sunny.



And this is the palapa, just off the dining room patio. The palapa is just what it looks like, a screened, covered outdoor room. It would be comparable to a screened-in gazebo. We will be using it for a classroom and meeting place.

 



 And that is most of Central House! There are offices, classrooms, and staff rooms as well. Frankie, the doorman, was watching me take pictures. He explained the house is very old, and used to be a governor's mansion. He was very pleased when I replied, ¡Me encanta! (I love it!)