Atongo Housesit

Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico. View from the terrace in Colonia Atongo. Photo by author

Valle de Atongo, the largest and wealthiest section of the Tepoztlán metropolitan area, sits at its northeast boundary. I was fortunate to be the live-in security for two weeks while the tenant was away. Here is a prior blog on Atongo. For me, the main benefit, besides enjoying the beautiful view of the surrounding mountains, was the silence. My apartment's neighborhood is much noisier, with traffic, dogs, roosters, and fireworks.

A woman I know put out a request on a local WhatsApp group for someone to stay at her house for a couple of weeks while she was away. There were no pets or plants to water-- my presence would deter robberies. It was in a gated compound, a rarity in Tepoztlán.

While staying there, I met the developer of the compound, Miguel Angel Padilla. He started out as a very poor man growing up in Mexico City. But he had a creative idea that was very successful. He converted some scrap metal into beautiful lamps that sold well, and opened a factory to produce them. In 1978 he established connections in Tepoztlán, and began buying properties and building houses on them. So far he has built 40 houses, owning 29 of them. The compound where I stayed was started in 2017. It is called Cuacuachila, a Nahuatl name. The closest translation I could find is for cuauhcali, which means "eagle's house" or "warrior's house."

Here is a slideshow tour of the land, starting out at the main dirt road, with a winding side road to the gate. Notice the incredible amate tree. We go past the gate, into the compound, and explore the few streets there.

Here are some of the other houses in the compound:

Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico. Some of the houses in Cuacuachila. Photos by author

Cuacauchila has grazing animals and gardens, besides its individual homes. Here are some videos of the animals:

A donkey wants to make friends with me:

Here are some of the gardens I saw:

Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico. Some gardens in Colonia Atongo's Cuacuachila. Photo by author

I thought you might be interested in seeing the inside of the house where I stayed. Here is a tour:

This is mostly a residential area, but there is a wonderful little restaurant that is also an authentic Austrian bakery with goods preordered for pickup. It is called Cafe Mozart. You saw some of it in the first link in this article, but since it is just around the corner from where I was staying, I thought I'd show you more.

Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico. Cafe Mozart is in Colonia Atongo. Photo by author

Tepoztlán, Morelos, Mexico. Cafe Mozart has beautiful views of the mountains. Photo by author

Perhaps you are interested in relocating to a paradise like this?

Why not check out our stress-free personally crafted guided tours? It all starts with a phone call. And if you want to stay posted on our latest offers and adventures, join our Facebook group and like our page.

- - - - - - - - - - - - > P l e a s e _ S u p p o r t _ M y _ W o r k :

YOUR COMMENTS ARE IMPORTANT!

Please comment below, on Disqus, following the directions.
OR email me: [email protected] (I will post them here with your name unless you ask to be anonymous.)

Disqus:

Write your comment in the box ("join the discussion")
Click on blue Comment button
Enter your name and email in the boxes (but no password)
Check the small box at the bottom: “I’d rather post as a guest”
Do the Captcha ("Check the “I’m not a robot")
Click on “comment” or on the gray arrow