**See below for rates*** Rates include 3 meals per day, 2-9 passenger Suburbans with one tank of gas each. **See Below** Summer: $ Winter: $ Holidays:$ Xmas& NY:$ (USD per night) 10 Bedrooms Sleeps 22

San Pancho
Beachfront

Article & Description written by Heather Wilson.

On a one-of-a-kind site that a former Mexican president called home, this playfully luxurious villa is so outstanding that a bird’s-eye view of it is on the cover of “Houses by the Sea”

Featuring Mexico’s prestigious oceanfront homes, an excerpt from this coffeetable book conveys Villa Vista Magica’s unorthodox mood: “With its circular plan, the house is an ever-changing excursion. A collection of uncommon elements, spaces emerging whimsically, circumferences framed to wrap the view and appropriate the ocean all for themselves. The goodness of a place that desires nothing but to accommodate John Hardesty’s ideas, to see them brought to life upon its soil. Apermanent rehearsal space, with independence and confidence to do whatever comes to mind on this land, in this doting weather and with this privileged perspective.”

Accustomed to living well, owners Hardesty and his wife, Clara, also have homes in Carefree, Arizona, and Las Vegas. For a long time they had wanted to build a retreat on Mexico’s west coast, but it wasn’t until 1997, while checking out the shoreline by air, that they found the perfect spot for their villa with the magic view.

Back in the 1970s, President Echeverria also responded to the beauty of this dramatic peninsula outcropping between the fishing villages of Sayulita and San Francisco (San Pancho), claiming it for himself. Setting out to make the latter a model of self-sufficiency that Third World countries would emulate – and get appointed to a prestigious United Nations post as a result – he ended up fleeing Mexico instead. And the 87,836-square-foot property with nearly a mile of beach front stood abandoned for 20 years until Hardesty discovered it.

Winding through tropical rainforest flush with exotic flora, a 1.5-km side road culminates in a creamy-pink, curving quarry walkway surrounded by manicured gardens. My first thoughts were “Wow! What a gorgeous, verdant spot! And the beach is right here! But where’s the house?”

Turns out that with the circle as the novel architecture’s uniting principle, there simply are no awkward formalities like grand entrances. A metaphor for the freedom of existential flow, each of the 11 round structures comprising the home symbolizes the life-sustaining sun and the always-in-motion life-giving ocean. All are separate, yet related, providing privacy without any sense of isolation.

Tucked seamlessly into the majestic landscape by architect Tatiana Borioli Berner and landscape architect Ricardo Diaz Borioli, the design highlights nature’s accomplishments while taking cues from the outcropping it rests upon. Accommodating 22 guests, joie de vivre lives and breathes within these curved walls and thatched roofs, celebrating the cosmic vision of Mexico’s indigenous peoples. Even the sliding windows are curved and open side to side, so nothing obstructs the views. Irrepressibly accented by a spirit of fun, hand-painted art faithful to mythological Mexican motifs is everywhere – on tiles, sinks, walls, stairwells, skylights, furniture, and even some of the floors. Colors are fresh and earthy-bright, no two suites the same. Traditional infuences sparkle in pebble rugs, the solidly reassuring presence of fough-hewn colonial pieces from Puebla and kick back couches in natural fibers like leather and rattan. Accessories are natural and spirit affirming – wind chimes, candles, and stones and shells collected on nearby strolls.

Each guest casita is autonomous, with its own powder room, shower and/or Jacuzzi tub, walk-in dressing area, kitchenette with refrigerator and ice maker, telephone, satellite television, air conditioning, ceiling fans and expansive terrace. A bathroom lunge plumped with pillows surprises, as does an outdoor shower, while one suite boasts an office with computer and fax. A couple of two-story family-friendly casitas have three bedrooms, their king-size beds adaptable to singles.

Overlooking a shimmering expanse of blue, a gym is outfitted with a duo of treadmills, Vectra On-line 3800 Universal, stairmaster, full complement of free weights, chage rooms, showers, steam room, sauna, television, fridge and icemaker. And at the property’s pinnacle, a hand-crafted cane and rope chandelier in the mammoth dining palapa exemplifies the creative, naturally elegant spirit of the place, while an infinity pool and Jacuzzi hugging the curves of the rock trace lines that have existed for millennia.

Since the Hardesty’s have spent only a few weeks a year here since the home – created to be enjoyed – was completed in 2000, they have opened it to guests. With no neighbors, this idyllic vacatione retreat is unbelievably peaceful, yet equipped with everything you could want or need, including a water treatment plant and high-capacity electricity generator.

From the moment a driver picks you up at the airport, the friendly staff of eight takes good care of you. All you need to do is open the door and walk in. The chef expertly whips up three meals a day, whatever and whenever you like, as well as cocktail parties for up to 60, should you be so inclined. Fax or email your desired menus, or sit down with bilingual house manager Brigido Castellon upon arrival and plan your culinary agenda together. Undoubtedly, he’ll tell you that every morning he buys fresh fish from the fishermen whose powder blue pangas neatly line up beside the villa when not in use. And if you prefer, he’ll arrange for you to go out and catch your own, perhaps huachinango, dorado, sierra or maybe even tuna. Here on the open sea, it’s not an all-day proposition unless you want it to be.
You’ll find yourself so energized by your surroundings that you might try jet skiing on a house WaveRunner. Or stroll 10 minutes north along the pristine, silky-sand Playa Mal Pasos to San Pancho (population 10,000). Each has a distinctive personality and provides an up-close perspective of life in small-town Mexico, surprisingly good restaurants and shopping. And San Pancho even has a full-fledged adventure activity center with kids’ club, kayaking, horseback riding, whale-wathcing excursions and much more. With two Suburbans at your disposal, you might even want to explore the resort mecca of Puerto Vallarta just 45 minutes away.

Rates:

2010

YEAR AROUND $54,000.00
THANKS GIVING & EASTER $60,000.00
CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR $70,000.00

2011

YEAR AROUND $54,000.00
THANKS GIVING & EASTER $60,000.00
CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR $70,000.00

Rates include: 3 meals per day featuring authentic Mexican Cuisine, 2-9 passenger Suburbans with one tank of gas each.