The Luis Barragán House

From the street it is a flat grey wall with a few openings, deliberately giving nothing away. Inside, Luis Barragán built himself a house in 1948 that became the clearest statement of what he was after: thick walls in pink, ochre and violet taken from Mexican village building, light admitted through carefully placed openings rather than windows onto views, and rooms that open unexpectedly onto a wild garden. A cantilevered staircase of bare pine treads climbs one wall with no rail. He lived here until his death in 1988 and the house was left with his furniture, books and crucifixes in place. UNESCO listed it in 2004 as the only individual house in Latin America on the list.

What you actually see

• The living room window - a single cross-framed pane onto the wild garden.
• The staircase - cantilevered pine treads with no handrail.
• The roof terrace - walls of colour framing nothing but sky.
• The rooms as left - furniture, books and objects still in place.

When to go

Year-round; visits are by guided tour at fixed times only and must be booked well in advance, often weeks ahead. Groups are small. Midday light is what the house was designed around, though every hour changes it. Photography rules are strict and often require a separate permit.

Honest expectations

You cannot simply turn up: tickets are limited, sell out well ahead, and no-shows are not resold on the door. Photography for personal use is restricted and commercial use requires permission and a fee. The house is small and the visit is about an hour, which some find expensive for the price.

Nearby

Chapultepec and the anthropology museum are twenty minutes east.