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Canadians Abroad: Southern Lights
Surrounded by fragrant rosemary bushes, bougainvillea and
lemon trees, Colette Home-Douglas relaxes on the hillside terrace in front on
her Ajijic home.
The Sierra Madre mountains make a striking backdrop. A small
anterior courtyard adjacent to the living room is inlaid with thousands of stone
clusters.
Colette & John Home-Douglas, Ajijic
It was serendipity that in 1988 led Colette Home-Douglas to
her idyllic Mediterranean-style home, once owned by a woman known as Princess
Natasha. "She lived with the great conductor Leopold Stokowski and was one of
the first to build up in the hills outside the town," Colette says. "My husband,
John, and I were just visiting friends in Ajijic, and they asked if we would
like to see the house. We had no intention of moving. But the moment I walked
through the door I knew we would buy it!" Originally from Montreal, the couple
had lived in Puerta Vallarta for 16 years, but the house's history - and the
beauty of Ajijic - so captivated them that they made the move.
Colette enjoys telling the story of her colourful predecessor.
"Her real name was Nathalie Bender, and she was an American, but she was so
exotic and mysterious that people gave her the title 'Princess.' She was a
painter who travelled all over the world with Stokowski and she had wonderful
taste. After we moved here I found several French and Spanish decorating
magazines with the pages marked where she had copied the designs," Colette says.
The spacious front terrace offers a panoramic view of the mountains across the
sparkling expanse of Lake Chapala. Perfumed by the fragrance of magnolia,
jasmine and lemon, tangello and lime trees, it's surrounded by intricately
patterned stone walls and masses of orange and pink bougainvillea as translucent
as tissue paper. The kitchen's three-tiered fireplace and beamed ceiling are
French in style. In the living room, the cupola is Moorish, though the use of
miniature bricks in the undulating boveda de cuna ceiling is unique.
Light streams through skylights in the Moorish cupola that
crowns the living room. In the evening, tiny potlights - hidden behind seashells
in the cupola - provide ambient illumination.
Colette has high praise for the local artisans. "They are such
wonderful artists. One day the stonemason and his son began work on a fountain
for the courtyard. He asked if I had a coffee can he could use. With just that
and a knife he scored the most beautiful decoration in the cement and was so
proud that he asked me to take his photo standing beside it."
The kitchen's tiles were
custom made in Guadalajara for the previous owner and feature a stylized
rendering of birds, leaves and the letter S. A three-tiered fireplace lends a
French touch to the blue and white-tiled kitchen. The magnificent crystal
chandelier - similar to Venetian glass - was purchased in Tlaquepaque. The
kitchen is large enough to house Colette's collection of over 500 cookbooks.
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AJIJIC VILLAGE HOMES 