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Casa Bestia: Broad strokes and dramatic flourishes transform a plain home

You can do a lot even when your property’s width is just 4.5 meters or under 15 feet. It’s just that, as artists Ken and Jeanne Ashman say, you have to “get creative.”

They bought the fairly plain shotgun house on a quiet Centro street to serve as a workshop studio, with some gallery space, for Jeanne, an American sculptor working primarily with found objects. They also wanted to include a living space — a two-bedroom, two-bath home with a lap pool that fits snugly in the rear garden.

The future Casa Bestia in 2021.
The future Casa Bestia in 2021. Photo: Lee Steele / Yucatán Magazine

Two years later, Casa Bestia was finished. Today, it’s furnished, filled with art, and feels bright and welcoming from front to rear. 

Adding to the complications was that the finished product had to contain a beautiful and functional two-bedroom, two-bath home that’s consumer-ready should they decide to sell the property in the future.

Success came after working countless hours with architect/builder Javier Ramirez of JR Architects. Their background running a small interior design firm back in the States also served them well.

Casa Bestia in 2024
Casa Bestia, an art studio with living quarters, is Jeanne Ashman’s masterpiece. Photo: Patricia Robert / Yucatán Magazine

A thoughtful floor plan with floor-to-ceiling windows makes the home feel much roomier than it is. 

The narrow north/south-oriented site along the entire width is spanned by slab-on-deck construction so no columns or walls interrupt sight lines.

Two open stairs and multiple overlooks connect the floors, where glass and polished cement are backdrops for Jeanne’s countless sculptural works. 

The floor planes of the second level jut through an open two-story volume, providing kinetic energy without interrupting a direct view through the structures to the rear garden. 

Casa Bestia turned out to be two homes connected by a central courtyard. The house closest to the street is a south-facing vertical space, with a gallery occupying the two stories facing front.

Casa Bestia in 2024
Casa Bestia in 2024. Photo: Patricia Robert / Yucatán Magazine

However, a clerestory window tops the elegant, curved half-bath at street level adjacent to the main entrance, with a small garden and one of Jeanne’s sculptures.

The composition is lively, relieving the brutality of the solid wall and infusing the interior space with light.

“I’ve seen several narrow homes that have no light; they’re just one building,” Jeanne recalls. 

“So I decided that it needs to have a lot of light. I got windows on the back. I got a courtyard in the middle.”

To the rear, the second house is more personal: it has a living room and bedrooms, with a pool in the rear yard. 

The houses are organized around the two-story garden space, with the two-story water feature and stair hall providing organizational clarity. Walls are minimal, occurring only where privacy is desirable. 

Overall, the house is a successful exercise in turning a challenging geometry into a unique design.

With reporting by Mérida resident Craig Saunders who is a retired Connecticut architect.

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