Casa Lily sits quietly close to the heart of the Historical City of Granada being six blocks West of Granada’s Central Square, and 5 minute walk to the local market behind which is a small grocery store for the more timid of us. The City Office considers Casa Lily to be in the Historical District of Granada so exterior changes to building must be approved of.
Why not closer to central square? Downtown has traffic, noise and yes a few pan handlers and scruffier elements found in a poor country. Nicer to visit and walk about than live next to. Casa Lily is one block South of Xalteva Church and 40 meters East.
Casa Lily is bright and comfortable and while it certainly has ‘Colonial’ finishing touches it is lighter and more airy feeling than a true Colonial building. From the street you see a ‘3 Door’ Spanish appearing residence with raised porch 46’ long by 6’ wide with custom wrought iron fencing closing it in as well as wrought iron decorative work over doors and windows. A true Colonial would not have those two windows. *It’s not unusual to see a few horses and carts tied off to the railings during the morning.
Designed and supervised by a local (now retired) Architect this home was built for a senior Bank official. Built of reinforced concrete and using a lot of now very expensive cedar royal it is of exceptional construction quality. An example would be the fact that original toilets and sinks were all Kohler even though our updating replaced most of these with more modern colors and designs. Tiles in open area, porch and second story passageway are specially imported Spanish tiles.
While structurally the house was fine but the interior was ‘tired’ needing updating and upgrading to complement it’s design. A complete new roof of antique Teja tiles was installed with underlayment of galvanized metal and new larger guttering. To assist in managing heat and light custom wooden curtains were installed resulting in cool areas without use of air conditioning. Of course we also saw to preparation and painting of almost every surface, a complete renovation of Kitchen and two bathrooms as well as new lighting fixtures. A pressure pump was installed to provide water pressure from roof top reservoir when city water pressure is lost and propane point of use water heater installed, both imported to assure highest quality.
Description of interior layout:
The door to the left opens into a corridor leading to back of the front portion of the Villa into a roof covered area overlooking interior pool and open stairs leading to two bedrooms.
The next door opens into a ‘Salon’ or living/sitting room 15 ½ wide and 24’ deep with 12’ high wood ceiling ending in a wide set of arched ‘French’ doors which open into the casual sitting/entertaining area overlooking the pool. This room is air conditioned but both sets of doors can also be opened along with front window to enjoy morning/evening breezes.
The door to far right opens into the Master Bedroom which is large being 7’ wider than the ‘Salon’ and has of course a separate entrance from rear sitting/entertaining area as well as a large bathroom extension at rear. A New ceiling fan and custom made chandeliers as well as new high efficiency air conditioner where installed in 2013.
The rear sitting/entertaining area with Cathedral wood ceiling is 30’ x 18’ with lighted overhead fans and a great place to relax overlooking look over the pool and garden area. A ‘wet bar’ is just beside this area with a two piece washroom beside the bar.
The pool area and gardens in central courtyard totals another 1000 sq.ft., not a large pool but completely tiled and pleasant to relax in.
Next to the pool and overlooking it is the Kitchen with large eating area and laundry room/pantry. All modern appliances and cooking as well as dining accessories are supplied. Completely updated in 2010 this area is also air conditioned with large windows and doors for ‘open air’ feel. Countertops are Granite (more sanitary than tile) and large windows, doors in tropical hardwood are provide so this area can be closed off or 'open air' as desired. The laundry and storage area off the kitchen has a lot of nicely finish storage cabinets.
Above the Kitchen area and accessed by tiled staircase from sitting/entertainment area are two bedrooms, both with new split air conditioning and shared bathrooms. Beside second bedroom is fair sized wooden floored room with fan/light and large window overlooking pool area, ideal for study, changing into large bathroom or exercise room.