Designers Andrew Fisher and Jeffry Weisman craft an enchanting home in the heart of San Miguel de Allende.
San Miguel de Allende pulsates as it celebrates its annual La Albarada with spectacular fireworks, lively parades, mariachi bands and culturally costumed dancers filling the streets. But at the Fisher Weisman home (that is, Andrew Fisher and Jeffry Weisman), located just blocks from the Mexican town’s main plaza, the hoopla disappears inside the walls of the private paradise.Â
Magical barely begins to describe it. Beautiful doesn’t do it justice. When the front door opens to the designers’ home, my travel companions and I are transported from a narrow cobbled street to an intoxicating world of lush gardens, captivating spaces and dazzling design.
“Bienvenidas,” Weisman says warmly as he waves us inside.
Once a tannery dating from the 1800s, the former industrial space was most recently renovated by designers Fisher and Weisman—principals of the Fisher Weisman Collection—after they purchased it in early 2011. “We wanted it the minute we saw the huge patio and the garden’s century-old jacaranda trees in full bloom,” Fisher recalls. The interiors, on the other hand, were far less interesting.
They lacked charm or historic features, so the couple teamed with local craftsmen and artisans to gut and expand the main house, add a pool and build a two-story casita—all before the year’s end. Eleven years later, as we stroll through the property with chilled cocktails in hand, it’s difficult to imagine the house ever being anything but the enchanting sanctuary it is today.
The designers named their house Casa Acanto, a nod to the acanthus leaves that are a frequent part of Fisher’s designs, including the Fisher Weisman home collection of hand-crafted furniture and lighting. “Living in San Miguel inspired us to make these things,” Weisman explains. “They’re inspired by Andrew’s art, made with materials native to Mexico and showcase crafts perfected by the people here.”Â
As we explore the property, imaginative design delights at every turn. Against a backdrop of stone and plaster walls, beamed ceilings and tile floors hand-burnished with tar and gasoline, the duo curated a mix of treasured furnishings, art and objects gathered over time, then added new piecesfashioned especially for the home. It’s a funhouse of fantastical elements, and it’s impossible to take it all in.
In the dining room, for example, a chandelier crafted of green glass and seashells hangs like a thalassic sculpture above a walnut-topped table—both one-of-a-kind creations by Fisher. In the primary bathroom, a tiered copper light fixture illuminates the room while spouting water into the copper tub below. A wall of backlit blue glass illuminates the swanky bar, where a panel of smoked mirrors doubles as a secret entry into the garage. Shell-encrusted posts stand like bejeweled sentries by the sparkling pool, sisal-wrapped chandeliers imitate locally made pinatas and puzzle-shaped dining tables cluster in the garden. Weisman says nonchalantly, “We like things to be a little surprising, a little playful.”
After our stroll through the terraced property, we gathered on the main terrace to watch the sun drop behind the gardens and chat about the house, travel and the couple’s love for this vibrant country. “It’s a wonderful place with wonderful people,” Fisher says. Given our tour of their home and a glimpse of their life in San Miguel de Allende, we have no doubt that Andrew and Jeffry have it made, here in Mexico.
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