This is the last post on San Ignacio, B.C.S.
and this time we will look at old adobe houses, mostly in ruins.
The previous post shows some adobes still being used:
Sadly, I saw no current building with adobe,
having been supplanted first by fired clay bricks
and now almost all new construction is cement block.
As I mentioned in the last post,
if one had the choice of spending a hot summer in a cool adobe
or a hot cement block house,
it seems the choice would be obvious. Hmmm?
In the above well built wall,
the coursing shows the bricks are laid crosswise for a wider wall.
On a hike along one of the old acequias originating from springs
we saw this old home.
It was on the high side of the acequia along a steep hillside grown up with scrub,
while on the other side of the acequia was a lush date palm grove,
a perfect setting for a home.
For an adobe with no roof or protection
the walls looked to be in pretty good shape,
all things considered.
In the above photo it would appear that the house was built in stages
as evidenced by the difference in walls at the base.
The stone on the left acts as a splash guard
avoiding the bottom wear seen on the right.
But the wall on the right still has it's plaster,
while on the left the bricks seem to be wearing much more.
The lintel for the doorway is gone creating an arch of sorts.
Was it taken out, rotted, or destroyed from insect damage?
The stucco was built up around the window
creating a nice trim as is common all over Mexico.
The stone foundation protects from splashing
and moisture creeping up from the ground.
Notice the narrow bricks on the right side of the above wall.
I would guess that this was a double brick wide wall
and the right side must have worn much faster,
maybe because of the prevailing direction of rain.
The detail of the plaster shows a good base coat with a thinner finish,
but no obvious sign of having been replastered,
and I would guess the stone at the base was originally plastered over.
I remember someone telling me
that salt water was used in adobe plaster to make it harder.
Would it have been used in the bricks also?
Many areas where adobe is common the soils and water are quite alkaline,
would this mimic the use of salt?
Another few hundred feet along the acequia was this abandoned building (above).
Again notice the pitting of the wall from rain splashing, above.
I suspect the adobe wall would have originally been flush with the stone,
before being worn down by the rain.
Back in town, I love the detail of the stone and the brick adds a nice trim look.
The faux stone stucco over the adobe bricks is quite common,
having been used after cement stuccos became available.
I noticed the same style of faux stone was used on the Palace of the Governors
in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the late 1800's.
These ruins of a house are also in town...
...and yet again the nice stone detail.
This building is just on the outskirts of town out in the date palms
and has certainly been repaired at different times.
On the end wall these stones or fired brick fragments were added at some point.
And finally we look through the ruins
at what must have been a nice house at one time.
The built up arch is well done.
To see the previous post on San Ignacio go to:
To see much more on adobe go to LABELS - ADOBE
on the right side bar and click on:
Adobe In Alamos Sonora,
Adobe In Mexico,
or Adobe In The Southwest,
and to see more on old buildings check out
Ruins And Old Buildings.
