A Fantasy Indoor-Outdoor Home at Nicaragua
Peta Kaplan and Ben Sandzer-Bell first traveled from Chicago into Nicaragua in 2005 for a family holiday, but volcanoes, wildlife, markets, colonial architecture and beaches made them wish to call the area home. “On the last day of our trip, obtaining all agreed that indeed Nicaragua was the type of location our South African and French backgrounds resonated with, we found ourselves looking at five properties in Granada,” says Kaplan.
They bought a colonial house on the border of a historic district with plans to remodel, but the house was in such poor shape that they demolished it — only the red clay roof tiles were salvageable — and rebuilt in a typical colonial-Granada style that celebrates earth tones, organic shapes and a fuzzy line between indoors and outside.
at a Glance
Who lives here: Painter Peta Kaplan and sculptor Ben Sandzer-Bell
Location: Granada, Nicaragua
Size: 1,292 square feet; two bedrooms, 2 baths
Cost: $54 per square foot
Louise Lakier
The couple created an open-air space for a profound relation to the surrounding character and animals. The coffee table is part of a repurposed door from the couple’s layout and construction firm, CO2 Bambu, which generates bamboo shelters.
Kaplan’s original paintings hang across the house. Her collection “Stray Dogs of Nicaragua” was shown extensively throughout the U.S.
Louise Lakier
The rooms open into a central courtyard and small swimming pool. “The kitchen is our backyard, and the pool is in our living space,” Kaplan says.
Using its open layout layout, the home was a magnet for drifting creatures. The couple shares the home with three dogs — Mango, Princessa and Dwayne — along with six cats: Salvador (Dalí), Diego (Riviera), Georgia (O’Keefe), Thurgood, Stubbie and Ziggy.
Louise Lakier
The pool’s undulating lines and untiled finish are meant to embody a river. “Our biggest splurge item was our river-inspired pool, as we knew it could be essential for the Granada heat. It was our best investment, and not a day goes by when we are not inside,” Kaplan says.
“Our style is best described as respectful of vernacular colonial architecture, combined with touches that permeate our home from Morocco to India to Peru to Argentina — all of areas that have impacted us throughout our journeys,” Kaplan says.
Louise Lakier
Kaplan painted murals to expand the backyard. The wall sconces are from San Juan de Oriente, a village known for its ceramics.
A vibrant cascade of tile intended to resemble a waterfall adorns a narrow stairway into a terrace used for biking and stargazing.
Louise Lakier
“The terrace is the best place for moon bathing and enjoying the night wind,” Kaplan says. “When we lie and have a look at the birds flying overhead at the conclusion of each day as the sun goes down, we have the feeling of a permanent vacation.”
Louise Lakier
Louise Lakier
Arching, organic shapes come up across the space, in doors and other openings, partitions, shelves and counters, while natural earth tones inspired the colour scheme.
Louise Lakier
Arched doors and windows appear in the main bedroom also, letting light and garden views in.
The ceiling is made from sugarcane, although the apparel is cedar.
Louise Lakier
The couple’s biggest design challenge was finding a way to bring light and air into the restroom.
Louise Lakier
They solved it by creating an opening into the sky over a little rock garden next to the shower.
Sandzer-Bell’s relief-figure sculptures hang on the enclosure wall.
Louise Lakier
More earth tones and curved forms show up in the main toilet, where relics from the couple’s travels also show the appreciation and influence of varied cultures in the couple’s design aesthetic. “We store in local markets searching for exceptional artistic pieces that catch the heart of local culture,” Kaplan says.
Louise Lakier
Like most of the rooms, the main bedroom opens into the courtyard, where among the few six cats stretches on cement tiles sourced from local factories because of their organic, organic coloring.
Louise Lakier
Local organizers assembled all of the wood doors in the house out of pochote, also called spiny cedar.
Louise Lakier
Sky-blue tiles in the kitchen produce among their house’s few bursts of vibrant colour. The cabinet doors and shelves are cedar. The door hardware is from India.
Louise Lakier
Mint, basil, parsley, cilantro, dill, basil, oregano, tumeric, ginger, aloe vera and lemongrass all grow within reach of their kitchen.
Louise Lakier
Sandzer-Bell coated his piano in Financial Times posts about peak oil, flooding in New Orleans, Iranian conflicts along with also the election of President Ortega in Nicaragua. “Doing a collage on the piano was his second option, after wanting to cover his vintage Mustang convertible in newspaper clippings, but our boys vetoed that idea, so he depended on the piano,” Kaplan says.
The bamboo dining table was formerly part of a doorway in the couple’s Granada office.
Louise Lakier
Kaplan and Sandzer-Bell fell in love with the lot when they felt the wind current traveling up the broad street from Lake Nicaragua five blocks away.
“Our town is authentic, unique and architecturally rich. We can sit outside our house and watch the street go by — a horse, a family of goats, four individuals on a bicycle, or a horse and cart,” says Kaplan.
The couple hired a local artist for U.S.$200 to paint the large exterior mural of a Paul Klee painting that has sentimental value to them.
Louise Lakier
Sandzer-Bell and Kaplan sit inside their backyard with their dogs Mango and Dwayne, and kitten Ziggy.
“Our lifestyle goal for this house, beyond the architectural and design elements, was for every one of our four boys to utilize it as a vehicle for traveling in Latin America, to be exposed to new cultures, life in the growing world, and to get Spanish. Proudly, we may say that has become the case,” says Kaplan.
One of their sons, Oren Pollack, also relocated to Nicaragua. He resides in a custom bamboo home assembled by Kaplan and Sandzer-Bell’s company.