A Former Dentist’s Office Becomes an Intriguingly Layered Home on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula

Two ex-New Yorkers reimagine their lives together and team up with a local architect to create an unexpected residence.

Mar 15, 2022 - 01:17

A Former Dentist’s Office Becomes an Intriguingly Layered Home on Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula

Two ex-New Yorkers reimagine their lives together and team up with a local architect to create an unexpected residence.

The office area also features a Jolly table from Kartell alongside<span style="font-family: Theinhardt, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif;"> a table by local workshop Chuch Estudio and Harry Bertoia side chairs.</span>

From the outside, Casa San Cristobal looks much like the other homes in Mérida’s historic center, with a tall plaster wall that faces the street—no front garden, no way to peek inside. The only signs that something special lies behind the pale-green facade are the sleek house numbers and two bright-blue doors.

Designer Marc Perrotta and travel editor and writer John Newton renovated and expanded a colonial building in Mérida, Mexico, with the help of Jorge Novelo Caamal of Paralelo 20. The house’s pale-green plaster facade gives away little of what awaits inside. — Designer Marc Perrotta and travel editor and writer John Newton renovated and expanded a colonial building in Mérida, Mexico, with the help of Jorge Novelo Caamal of Paralelo 20.
Photo: Fabian Martinez

These hints do little to prepare you for entering the dramatic 2,381-square-foot home that architectural designer Marc Perrotta shares with his husband, travel writer and editor John Newton, and their miniature Pinscher, Lily Beth. A towering front room spans the width of the property, the laptops on a concrete-top table and a low bookshelf running along the wall indicating that it’s the couple’s home office.