Houses – Kiwi Fanau

One can’t visit San Cristobal De Las Casas and not be enamoured by the cobblestone streets, the decorated homes and the variety of colour. We were so enchanted we took loads of photos!

The Cobblestone Streets

Lots of uniquely paved streets. There are so many tantalising visuals in San Cristobal that it’s easy to miss but definitely taking the time to notice. These roads were not made for the amount of people using them every day so ninety percent of them are one way streets that allow for parking on one side of the road.

Notice that the pavement is also very narrow which keeps things interesting when you are passing people. Often someone gives way by walking on the street. Or if there is a lot of traffic then we squeeze past each other carefully.

We did have an incident where Giselle was carrying Lui and slipped off one of the high curbs onto the road. Fortunately the group passing us called out to the police car that was driving past to stop. The police car’s tyre stopped an inch short of running over her foot. The police car waited, holding up traffic behind them (an offence to many drivers in SCDLC), to check if we were all ok. Once I’d picked up Lui and she was on her feet and walking again, after the shock, the police drove on.

The Colourful Homes

We love the variety of colours that are used and we notice many people are regularly up-keeping their place by calling on painters for a spruce up or to re-varnish doors.

The Murals

There are so many beautiful and interesting murals decorating walls in unsuspecting places. Some are down quiet streets, some are in run down areas to keep the place looking well maintained. Many of them are tagged with the artist’s instagram or facebook profile.

The Adornmants on the Buildings

To add to the interesting features of the streets, there are beautiful adornments such as pretty light fixtures or balconies, nicely framed doors or windows, pot plants lined up on walls or designs carved into the wall.

Our Glimpse of Houses and Streets Around The World

Houses of New Orleans

Houses and Streets of San Cristobal De Las Casas

The French Quarter

This area was the original town of New Orleans. It was settled by the French and named in honour of the Duke of Orleans. The street names are also named after their family including Bourbon St named after the House of Bourbon. This area predominantly had French speaking immigrants including French refugees from what is now known as Canada, Haitia and Sainte Domingue. Many of the French colony refugees included free people of colour who also lived in this area. Usually when immigrants came to New Orleans they settled in the French Quarter. This made for a very diverse racial population.

There were French-African-Whites or Spanish-African-Whites called Creoles who considered themselves urbane. They were sophisticated and some of the wealthier sons were sent to France to finish their education while daughters were sent to local convents. Creoles are not to be confused with Cajuns. Cajuns were considered white French country bumpkin type people who were refugees from the Canada region. Creoles also should not be confused with the American slaves or descendants of slaves who were poor and generally uneducated, they lived in a different part of town.

New Orleans allowed far more freedom for Creoles and people of colour, although they were still classed lower than lower class whites. Creoles had access to good education and were allowed to accumulate wealth. Along with the wealthy whites they loved cafes, masked balls and orchestral music. There were doctors, lawyers, teachers and business owners. Apparently in the 1850’s 85% were educated.

This influenced the architecture in this area and many of the buildings are known as Creole townhouses. Many of the homes have a Spanish or French influence with cast-iron balconies and the top level is often half a level for children’s bedrooms while the bottom floor was a shop.

Mid-City

It was in the 1800’s when the white American immigrants settled in the French Quarter that the racial mix began to change. The whites did not like the freedom given to the Creoles and other people of colour. They began putting laws in place that divided the city and isolated whites from anyone else. It severely impacted the education and living standards of all people of colour who were sent to live amongst the American blacks. However, the blend also created Jazz and Blues music.

The Mid-City area where we stayed had a blend of Creole cottages and American style cottages. Although many of them were two-storey homes, usually they were duplexes or the upstairs was a separate home to the downstairs.

The Garden District

The Garden District was originally a separate city called Lafayette. It was English speaking and home to wealthy Americans. It had a variety of different styles based on the tastes of the owner.