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Welcome to Casa Pastel on Isla Mujeres!
The story of Casa Pastel, the round, "wedding cake" house on the Caribbean shore of Isla Mujeres, began long ago and far away. You already know, of course, most happy ending stories start that way. Casa Pastel, the Isla Mujeres landmark so many visitors enjoy, began in the imagination of a little Mexican girl named Sonia.
The space on earth hit with an asteroid so huge, when the dust rose to darken the sky the world froze over until the dinosaurs were all extinct. Rivers run through underground caverns that open into cenotes in the jungle. An eternal reminder of the space rock that landed before humans walked on the earth. The brown eyed girl dreamt about building her beautiful hacienda on the island paradise where the sun first kisses the land in Mexico. She went to sleep to thoughts and plans of round towers and Caribbean waves. She saw the home she would someday create.
It took the magic of Isla Mujeres a lifetime to bring little Sonia's vision to life. Time passed. Sonia grew up and met an engineer from Chicago. They married. She left Mexico and raised three children. But the cold winters in Illinois were always warmed by her memories of Mexico and her dreams of Isla Mujeres. Yucatan was broken into three states. The Island of Women, Isla Mujeres, became part of the state of Quintana Roo in 1974. Quintana Roo, so beautiful it was meant to be a nature preserve where eco tourism and tours of the ruins of the Maya were the only industry. The city of Cancun, now a tourist mecca, was carved out of the jungle plantations. The Riviera Maya, the Caribbean Coast of Mexico, was open to the world but protected from destruction. Eventually, Sonia's family decided to explore the Caribbean shore of Mexico. Sonia's family fell in love with the Riviera Maya and Isla Mujeres. It was exactly as she dreamed it when she was a girl. She chose a piece of the island overlooking the Caribbean to build her dream on. The round, wedding cake house grew, slowly over many years. She raised her children in the United States and vacationed with them on Isla Mujeres.
The original concept for Casa Pastel was to have it look like an extravagant wedding cake. There were going to be three round towers, joined together by elevated passageways. The shaded overhang that shelters the upper balconey from the strong sun is a cantilevered roof.
Casa Pastel was a vacation home for Sonia and her family throughout the years. Other visitors would rent the house when it was vacant. Sadly, the gardens and interiors were not kept up as well as when Sonia, the duena, was not in residence. Sonia finally found reliable renters for her dream Caribbean villa when Captain Tony and Betsy moved in.
New Yorker apartment dwellers by birth, Casa Pastel was our very first house. Most people retire and sell the family home. Downsizing, Not us. We moved from a studio in midtown Manhattan to a huge old house on the shore of the Caribbean, Plenty of room for family to come and visit! The idea of 'do it yourself' home repairs and beautifully landscaped gardens for our family to visit was, and is, exciting! In 2014, Sonia returned to Isla Mujeres for a final visit. She was newly widowed and wanted to spend her time with her beloved daughter and family back in the States.  Our year-long rental of Casa Pastel ended in May, 2014 – when we took ownership of the house from Sonia - along with a promise that we would continue “living her dream” on the Caribbean. That was the easy part! Since then, inspired by Sonia and the house she created, we have completely renovated the house and gardens keeping the spirit of the cake house whole. Better electricity, more beds and dedicated sleeping areas, lots of chairs and couches to relax indoors or out. The inground pool Sonia planned was begun, but the base rock fought the idea. We have an above ground pool until we find the best place to build a permanent swimming area. Lucky for us the beach is just a short walk along the shore! While he was taking care of that for us, we had him add a third floor duplex studio with a roof deck that allows us to take advantage of the incredible views. Having two daughters with families visit is more comfortable when they can have private spaces as well as sharing time together. The two seperate "apartments" work perfectly. The gardens were in need of some serious tender loving care. We took on that job ourselves. The original limon tree that Sonia planted still produces fruit. The pomegranate, sour Seville orange, tamarind and sapote trees all are healthy and thriving. We've added bananas, avocados, papayas, and mangos that will produce fruitfor our grandchildren and great grandchildren and their children to enjoy. Coconut palms are homes for nesting birds. Other species of palm, yucca, bouganvilla, hybiscus, cacti and other fruit and flowering plants enjoy the TLC we provide. We do get complemented on the gardens but, honestly? We will take the credit but think the secret is really the 12 month growing season! Plants love the Caribbean weather as much as people do!
If you are interested in staying with us when you come to Isla Mujeres, contact us to see if your dates are available. Casa Pastel’s most talked-about feature, of course, is the round wedding cake shape. True round houses are difficult to engineer and build, but for stormy coastal areas, they are the perfect design. The winds from the Caribbean swirl around the walls and protect the house. We don't get a lot of bad weather here. Most of the big storms track north of us. But Casa Pastel has been here through a couple of hurricanes and stayed safe and dry! So when you're relaxing with a drink on the deck, don’t be surprised if tourists wave to you, or stop to take a photo. (Smile!) And don’t hesitate to nod in agreement if passersbys exclaim, “You're home is beautiful!” Remember, if you are a guest at Casa Pastel, it’s your home, too. Enjoy your stay at Casa Pastel! |
Sonia was born at the end of the second World War in the State of Chihuahua, Mexico. Her home was inland, far away from the Atlantic coast. To her, the Mexican state called 'Yucatan' was a magical land. Always warm in the golden sun. Caressed by the turquoise waters of the Caribbean. Filled with legends of pirates and ancient goddesses.
Isla Mujeres - The tiny island paradise in the Caribbean. Sonia's dream.
The family hired a local architect, who everyone called by his Mexican nickname, Crooked Nose, to turn Sonia's dream into a sturdy house of steel and concrete. Construction began on Casa Pastel in the early 1980s. House building was a very slow process on the island back then. Materials were shipped by boat. There were no car ferries or construction crews. There was no Home Depot in Cancun. Supplies took forever and sometimes disappeared on the way.
Enter Joe and Margareta Chiffriller. Friends of Tony and Betsy, we took over the house in November of 2013, delighted to take on the beautiful home as our retirement project. 
The second floor was converted from one huge bedroom suite into an open floor plan apartment with a seperate bedroom – complete with kitchen, breakfast bar, spacious living room, and an outside dining area and balcony that overlooks the Caribbean. We worked with 
Our kids and grandchildren (now grown grandchildren) are frequent visitors. When we aren't hosting friends and family, we occasionally make the upstairs space available to rent as a two bedroom tripex vacation rental.
