One of my goals for The Design Studio Blog is to show you some of the things that inspire me. It is my hope that you will find beauty in some of the images I will share with you. Please click on the images for a larger view.
I have the great fortune of being able to travel to Costa Rica quite a bit. I have a lot of family there, and we try to see each other at least once a year. An interesting fact about me is that I am the great, great, great,great,great… grandson of Costa Rica’s first president, Jose Maria Castro Madriz. There will be more on this in a later post.
When people think of Costa Rica, the first image that comes to mind is something like this:
There are lots of gorgeous beaches in Costa Rica, and I will write about them on other posts. I want to share with you some beautiful images of the Costa Rica that you do not see from the tour bus. The first image is of a wonderfully restored colonial era house in Heredia. The old part of Heredia is being restored thanks to government initiatives to provide incentives for historical preservation. This house will now be used as office space. Notice the lovely barrel tile roof.
This old school is also being restored, and will soon be used as a school once again. Schools were often named after countries in Costa Rica. This is the “Argentina” school.
This is an old fort, in the middle of the old town in Heredia. Notice how the “shooting” openings are shaped like a funnel (usually they would be slits on the outside and “funnels” on the inside)… Local legends say that is was a case of sabotage, so that the occupying soldiers would lose the fort. I think someone just misread the blueprints…
This is a beautiful old house on the outskirts of town that is in serious need of some love!
In San Jose, the area known as “Barrio Amon” is home to some of the prettiest houses in all of Costa Rica. They were originally built by coffee barons, and most of them are now B&B’s and art galleries. This is a private residence that had a modern addition placed on top of it. The vines have just gone wild on it, and give it an amazing appearance.
A little bit of shameless self promotion: This is one of our projects in Costa Rica. The first phase consisted of major structural repairs, and a total restoration.
Finally, a beautiful San Jose sunset from a gorgeous rooftop cafe:
Thanks for visiting!
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