Updated June 1 2010

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SPANISH LANGUAGE: Language and cultural immersion in Casas Grandes/Mata Ortiz area. Pamela Kahlo-Fina, Recursos Travel & Education (520-327-1087), 3550 Camden, Tucson AZ 85716. See paragraph under “Tours and Classes.” mpmermaids[at]aol.com  www.rtemexico.com/spanish.htm

AGAVE LINDO TOURS:  Expert travel consulting, translating, guiding regional tours, catering traditional food, coordinating business and artistic events, by Diana Acosta (24-hour Cell 636-103-6004). Offices at La Casa del Nopal in Casas Grandes. diane_hsd[at]hotmail.com  www.AgaveLindoTours.com

BILINGUAL ASSISTANCE WITH VISIT OR TOURS:  Consult Xavier and Paco Guajardo (636-694-9565), owners of the Algremi Restaurant at Avenida Benito Juárez #4807 in Colonia Dublán, opposite the Hotel Trébol on first entering Nuevo Casas Grandes   paco_guajardo[at]hotmail.com

ALL MEXICO TRAVEL:  Norma Solís Payán (636-694-0111, Spanish) Manager, Viajes American Tours, Avenida Hidalgo 601-B, Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chih.  viajesamericantours[at]prodigy.net.mx

SELLING ORIGINAL ART from my children’s book, Juan Quezada: As Told to Shelley Dale by Juan Quezada. Also, small paintings, archival photos of Mata Ortiz and Paquimé for sale and/or exhibit. Email me for images. Shelley Dale (310-899-9310) shelleydale[at]roadrunner.com

REAL ESTATE

Contrary to popular belief, Americans can own real estate in Mexico as much as any Mexican citizen provided it is more than 50 kilometers from a coastline or 100 kilometers from an international border. Both Nuevo Casas Grandes and Casas Grandes fall outside the restricted zone, which ends in Dublán. Lic. Hector Jaurrieta (636-694-6822, Spanish only), Nuevo Casas Grandes, does our legal work and is recommended. Two useful summaries of Mexican real estate are: www.mexperience.com/property/prop_buying.htm

www.nuwireinvestor.com/article.aspx?id=200

While land in Casas Grandes (Pueblo Viejo) is private title (privado), equivalent to fee simple, much of that in Mata Ortiz is collectively owned (ejido), but can be converted to privado under certain conditions. Since one never really owns ejido land but holds it at the pleasure of the ejido council, buying land that has not been fully converted can be hazardous. The ejido council can revoke a foreigner’s title without cause, notice or recourse. See an analysis of ejido land law by the Rural Development Institute, a private organization of American lawyers, at www.rdiland.org/PDF/PDF_Reports/RDI_120.pdf.

The Calendar maintains a partial list of properties local owners have asked us to list for sale or rent. While we have no interest beyond guiding properties into the best hands, we are glad to point out such properties to visitors. Phone us (USA 915-261-0502, local 692-4402) or email (sm@look.net). We ourselves have acquired and restored several old adobes near the plaza in Casas Grandes and furnished them with local antiques for extended-stay rentals. We stockpile old architectural salvage items and encourage and work with any who would like to help preserve the historic aspect of this town.

Nuevo Casas Grandes

• LAND FOR SALE: 250 acres on east edge of Laguna Fierro, 50 yards from the water. 50 arable acres long fallow, the balance pastureland. Two wells. No electric. Asking $120,000 USD. Contact Eleuterio Piña (636-694-6002).

Casas Grandes (Pueblo Viejo)

• SMALL HOUSE FOR RENT on the church plaza, $200 USD per month. Phone Beatriz Payán (636-694-2197).

• FURNISHED RENTALS: Enjoy “The Adobe Experience.” Several restored nineteenth-century adobe homes near the plaza, furnished in local antiques—for artists, writers, or to catch your breath in Casas Grandes. Our Casa del Nopal, resembling a small hacienda with eight units opening onto a single garden courtyard, library/lecture room, wireless Internet, provides a unique setting for small business retreats, workshops, or academic conferences. Inquire about our low rates. For pictures, go to www.Flickr.com, search for Center for Casas Grandes Studies and scroll down to photos of adobes. Contact Spencer or Emalie MacCallum on their El Paso line (915-261-0502) which rings in Mexico or by email at sm[at]look.net)

• HOSTEL a block south of the main plaza, Estancia Universal Hotel. Four new rooms, each with refrigerator, private bath. Secure parking. $25 dollars one person, $5 each additional in a room. Contact José Luís Méndez (636-692-4118), owner, Estancia Universal Hotel, Calle Constitution #45, Casas Grandes.

·         SALE:  Historic Ojo Vareleño, a tract of 823 acres adjoining Casas Grandes on the north. Contains grounds extensively landscaped for family-outings in a park-like setting of 150 large shade trees and five swimming pools in series fed by a large artesian spring of potable water on the property. This spring was the water source for prehistoric Paquimé and today for irrigating the gardens of the older parts of Casas Grandes. The tract is flat and developable, backing against hills to the west and opening on the east to a panoramic view of the Casas Grandes Valley. 1,300 feet of acequia (irrigation channel), 3,000 feet frontage on a planned highway. Municipal power lines in place. This is privado land, not ejido, and has no zoning, building, or other restrictions. It has been in the Varela family since the late 18th century. All papers are in order. Asking $1.5 million USD. To reach the property, entering Casas Grandes from Nuevo Casas Grandes, turn right at the second stop sign onto Victoria and go 1.6 miles, then left on an unmarked, unpaved road 1.5 miles to the end. For information in Spanish, contact Antonio Varela, owner, at 636-694-5608, Cell 636-699-5948. For English, contact Spencer MacCallum at 915-261-0502 or by email at sm[at]look.net.

·         SALE:  Property north edge of town near Ojo Vareleño: 64 acres, 2”-diameter well, large house suitable for subdivision clubhouse: 4 bdrms (15x20 ft, 13x20, 16.5x16.5, 13x20), two baths, hall, living room/kitchen 33x50 ft, outsize fireplace. Pool 20x40 ft, 6.5 ft deep; dependency with 4 rooms and bath; large barn or bodega; horse barn 6 stalls of 2 rooms each; 5 large corrals. Asking $190,000 USD. Contact Miguel Méndez (636-694-6476), Manager, Banorte, Avenida Benito Juárez #100 at Avenida 5 de Mayo, Nuevo Casas Grandes, Chihuahua 71700.

·          SALE: Master residence and two large studio apartments opening onto a 100-foot covered porch and private park with full-size, covered pavilion, thick grass, roses, 120 mature trees (sycamore, mulberry, cypress, willow, elder, poplar, walnut), broad cement walks, illumination, acequia water rights with full, back-up piped irrigation system. Lot 27,000 sq ft, protected by 8-foot security wall, vehicular entrace from back street. Master residence has large kitchen, living room, two bedrooms each with bath, the master bedroom with large walk-in closet. House tiled throughout, fully ducted for air conditioning. Large storage space. Additional salon and bath under construction. 150-foot ornamental iron fence fronting the property and lined outside with 20 mature Italian cypress. Asking $150,000 USD. Contact Lydia Iliana Bustillos Esquival (636-692-4062), Casas Grandes.

·         SALE or Rent: Large furnished house, 4 carpeted bdrms, the rest of the house tiled—kitchen, dining room, living room, 2 baths (one exceptionally tiled) on paved street near downtown. Includes a cottage and 50 bearing pecan trees (300 kilos crop) on a parcel 0.6-acres enclosed by a six-foot concrete wall with three truck entrances. Papers are in order. Asking $120,000 USD. Contact Anacleto Fernando Garivái García 692-4089.

• SALE:  Old adobe home with traditional walled garden (fruit and shade trees, flowers) two blocks from the plaza on the historic Camino Real. 22” walls, vigas. The oldest section, once the town’s dance hall, dates from the nineteenth century. Newly roofed and re-wired. Asking $65,000 USD. Contact Lin Waldron (707-824-1486), Eidell Wasserman (Cell 858-204-7025, bluecorn[at]earthlink.net) or Emalie MacCallum (USA: 915-261-0502, Mex: 636-692-4402, sm[at]look.net).

·         SALE: Tastefully renovated adobe home two blocks from the plaza. Two bedrooms, bath, living room, kitchen, dining room, three-car garage with remote-control doors. All new landscaping, walled garden, four mature shade trees and a planting of premium orange trees. $65,000 USD. Owner will build additional bedroom and bath if desired. Contact Rafael Peña Morales (Cell 614-184-3745).

• SALE:  Late nineteenth-century adobe, thick walls, on Avenida Victoria a block from the plaza. Six rooms, bath. Large, walled yard and wagon shed. This property is half-a-block in size, bounded by streets on three sides. City sewer and utilities. Irrigation acequia along one side. $50,000 USD. Contact Rudolfo Varela (692-4239) at the property.

• SALE:  Large brick house 1 bdrm plus sleeping area off the living room, kitchen, 2 baths (one not finished), extra-large living room, steel roof (yet to be insulated), tiled floors, double-paned, security-grilled windows, large porch with brick pillars. Large lot (150 x 150 feet) in good neighborhood >>half-mile north of plaza and a block west of Calle Victoria. Cement horse stable, chicken house, approximately 80 trees (pine, mulberry, apricot, peach, plum, pecan, willow, cottonwood), garden with 9x16’ grape arbor for outdoor sitting. City utilities, ready to connect to sewer. $50,000 USD from >>Edmundo Bermúdez Nevárez (694-7413, mother 694-0379), Allende y Coahuila Streets, Nuevo Casas Grandes.

·          SALE: Partly restored, mid nineteenth-century adobe near the plaza, some original furnishings. Seven rooms, bath. Includes a large, semi-subterranean, secret room built expressly to hide women and children when Apaches attacked and later used to hide young women from Pancho Villa’s troops. Original wood floors. Large back yard walled on three sides, shade trees. $47,500 USD to a caring party. Contact Spencer or Emi MacCallum at 915-261-0502 (rings in Mexico) or locally at 636-962-4402. sm[at]look.net

• SALE:  Old adobe with 4 bdrms, bath, large kitchen/dining area. Approximately quarter-acre bisected by an acequia (irrigation ditch) with permanently flowing water crossed by a foot bridge. Lower half has lush grass and fruit trees including apricot, peach, plum, quince, pomegranate, apple. City sewer and utilities. $45,000 USD. Manuel Esquer #74 and Callejón Chihuahua. Contact Ramón Reyes (692-4418), owner, at the property.

• SALE:  House overlooking the Museum, four bedrooms, large bath, large kitchen/dining/living area, tiled throughout. Ten years old, block and concrete construction, grated windows, all city utilities. Corner lot with 8 young shade trees. Asking $40,000 USD, papers in order. Contact Celso Subillo (Cell 636-115-5366), owner, or wife Verónica Melero >>(Cell 636-114-0660) at the property at 903 Manuel Esquer and Pascual Orozco.

·         SALE OR RENT:  Tastefully designed new adobe home, viga ceilings, two bedrooms, bath, large living room, kitchen-dining area, walled yard, secure gate. Rent furnished or unfurnished. Sale $35,000 USD. Contact Emalie MacCallum (USA 915-261-0502, local 636-692-0502), sm[at]look.net

·         SALE:  Newly built brick-stucco house: Kitchen, hall, 2 bedrooms, bath, tiled throughout. Separate brick building 12x18 ft for secure storage. Yard approx. 90x90 ft, young trees. Located on Santos de Gollado at Callejón Juárez (two blocks on left after turning south at the ferretería). $35,000 USD. Contact Carmelo Calzadillas at Cell 636-110-3115.

• SALE: Fixer-upper (two structures) on 0.62 acres. Mature fruit trees and shade trees. Permanently-flowing acequia curving through the middle of the property makes for unusual gardening possibilities. $23,000 USD (owner will accept vehicle in part payment). Contact Tomás Cabanilla, owner, Saturday evenings at 625-581-4394. Because this owner lives in another town, Spencer and Emi MacCallum (USA 915-261-0502, local 692-4402) will show the property.

• SALE:  Historic seven-room adobe two blocks from the plaza, built by the builder of Luís Terrazas’ Hacienda de San Diego. Large porch across the back with pastoral view. No bath or kitchen, limited lot. Needs and deserves careful restoration, but interior is well preserved. Utilities in and sewer connection available. $20,000 USD. Contact Payín Escudero (Spanish, 636-692-4383), or Spencer MacCallum (USA 915-261-0502, Mexico 636-692-4402), sm[at]look.net)

• SALE: Old adobe on north edge of Casas Grandes at Calle 21 de Marzo #1110 (a paved street) across from Abarrotes Vega . Three bedrooms, study, living room, kitchen, bath. Has new, corrugated steel roof, but otherwise a fixer-upper. Lot and a half on the acequia  irrigation ditch, mature shade trees, ample garden with pecan, quince, peach trees. $10,000. Contact Anayeli González (Cell 636-110-2610).

·         SALE: New, small adobe on west side of Flores Magón at Zapata. Living room/dining area, two bedrooms, bath, laundry room (could be a bath for the second bedroom). $9,000 USD. Contact Olga Sanchez Mora at the property.

• SALE:  Unfinished house (13x26 ft brick enclosure with steel roof) on lot approximately 50x110 ft. Utilities available. Avenida 21 de Marzo. $4,250 USD. Contact Reina Fajardo (692-4033).

• SALE: Six-room, unfinished adobe not yet roofed, on lot approximately 65x82 ft. City water, sewerage. Calle 21 de Marzo one block north of paved Avenida Zapata. Asking $4,000 USD. Contact Noelia Hernández Quezada or her mother, Rosa Quezada Celado (636-661-7019), sister of Juan Quezada, in Mata Ortiz.

Mata Ortiz

• RENT:  Two units fully furnished, one with two bedrooms and bath, the other one bedroom and bath, on the property of Manuel Mora, Barrio Porvenir. Equipped with 220 electric: washer, dryer, refrigerator, microwave, toaster oven, and other conveniences. Help available for cleaning/cooking. Contact Pamela Kahlo-Fina (520-327-1087), 3550 Camden, Tucson AZ 85716  mpmermaids[at]aol.com   http://www.rtemexico.com/

• SALE:  Old adobe, 18-rooms, two-baths. Part of the property is a mercantile store and bodega (storeroom). Large courtyard with trees and a 30-ft well affording constant water supply, ample for garden irrigation. Total area 15,000 sq. ft, located half-block from the old plaza, cattycorner from Posada de la Olla. Store currently grosses $20,000 USD/month. Asking $45,000 USD for quick sale, will consider terms. This property is privado, not ejido, and the papers are in order. Contact Manuel Molina (636-661-4744 or Cell 636-100-0742), owner. Father-in law Hector Peña lives on the property and can show it whenever Manuel is absent.

• **SALE:  Newly built (2007) adobe-style home, 1,200 sq ft, with 2 bedrooms, bath, living room, 3 fireplaces, security windows and doors, on a double lot with east-facing view of Mata Ortiz. Fully furnished, only $45,000 USD. Contact Bill King, owner, at 505-508-3007 or 505-453-7920.

• SALE:  House north of the library fronting on the river in Barrio Centro. 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, living room, kitchen, studio. Large courtyard with unfinished guest cottage, all enclosed by nearly finished security wall with steel gates. Two septics, one for kitchen, one for baths. Asking $38,500 USD. Papers still need some work (in process of conversion from ejido to privado). Contact Stewart McClure (760-598-8855), 3159 Fairview Drive, Vista CA 92084. stewartmcc[at]cox.net

·         RENT OR SALE:  Newly built, stuccoed adobe home close to Adobe Inn Hotel. Two bdrms, bath, kitchen/dining area, living room (with fireplace), storeroom. Has water, electric, septic. Ready to move in. Papers in order. This is ejido property that can readily be converted to privado. Asking $30,000 USD. Owner has resettled in Nuevo Casas Grandes for better educational opportunities for her children. Contact Miriham Gallegos (636-109-0741) or her parents, Hector and Graciela Gallegos (636-661-7099) in Mata Ortiz.

• SALE:  Spacious adobe home on large lot in Barrio Porvenir, partially stone-floored. Three bedrooms, one-and-a-half baths, kitchen with skylight, large dining room/living room area with fireplace, two skylights. Garden patio with porches on three sides. Public power and water, holding tank, septic. Hand-dug well for irrigating (needs pump). Privado title, all papers in order. $27,000 USD. Contact Debbie Flanigan (caseta 661-7027).

• **SALE: Five-acre farm with adobe house on the Palanganas River five miles south of Mata Ortiz at Santa Rosa. Spacious house has 3 bdrms, living room, kitchen, bath. Artesian spring. Three acres arable land served by an irrigation canal along top edge of the property. View from the house of mountain ranges on either side of the valley and Palanganas River. Asking $24,000 USD or best offer. Contact David Graham, owner (arbresec@gmail.com) or Spencer MacCallum (915-261-0502, sm@look.net).

• SALE: Small business consisting of a laundromat (lavasolas) and five studio units in good condition fronting the old rodeo ring from the west. Units contain two double beds, hot water, shower, stove, refrigerator, and rent for single occupancy $25 daily or $75 weekly, double occupancy $35 daily or $100 weekly. Owner is a widow, wants to sell due to advancing age. $16,500 USD. Contact Amelia Martínez de Tena (voice/fax 661-7007), Farmacia Paquimé, Mata Ortiz, Chihuahua, México.

• SALE:  New adobe house with kitchen, dining room, hall, two bedrooms, bath. Located between the Acopio women’s co-op and the rodeo ring. Large yard, 8-10 young trees. Ejido title can be converted to privado. $10,500 USD. Contact Humberto or Blanca Ponce (694-6209), Constituyentes #811, Col. Burócrata, Nuevo Casas Grandes.

• SALE:  Adobe fixer-upper at Calle Iturbide #60, two doors south of the church on the same side of the street. Set apart from neighboring houses in a large yard 90x130 ft, bounded on three sides by roads with view of river trees and hills to the east. Three of its seven rooms are roofed with old, round vigas (ceiling beams), others are open. Asking $8,000 USD. Renovation would run another $20,000. Contact Luz Elva Ramírez, owner, c/o Spencer MacCallum (USA 915-261-0502, local 692-4402). sm[at]look.net)

• SALE:  House started with two large rooms, bath. Could be finished for $8,000-10,000. $2,000 USD. Contact Bill King (505-453-7920).

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