Saturday, September 4, 2010

Casa Gutierrez

I am writing in the near darkness of the dawn after another night, the third one in a row to be exact, of painting the Gutierrez House which lies about 600 meters of the house where I grew up. This old traditional coffee plantation is an important building in the history of Medellín for its age and exemplarity, as it has appeared in various historic documents about the city for being an axis of development around the area, and for its very specific architectural design. While painting it, and as a result of a conversation I had with my father about it, I have come to realize there is a possibility that after ten years of abandonment, it might be safe again to move back into the house. It has been for sale since we left and there have been various offers including one by the state itself to turn the house into some sort of museum, but either the distance from the city center or the danger related to the Colombian countryside have always prevented the transaction.