Every city has quirky, odd places to explore. These places are one-of-a-kind oddities that almost makes them charming. One of these oddities called ‘La Casa de las Piedritas’ (House of The Pebbles) is located in Envigado (a suburb of Medellin).

We found this place on Trip Advisor and asked several locals about it. Nobody had ever heard of it. Even our Envigado taxi driver had never heard of it.  The obscurity of the home made us more interested in finding it.

When we arrived, the owner Santiago told us that this he had been building his house, stone by stone, for 32 years for his wife, Gloria.   It looks like nothing special from the outside, but inside is like a castle with a warren of hallways, staircases, small bedrooms – a true adventure. Photos don’t do justice to this charming example of folk art.

History

The original house is over 150 years old. When Santiago was a boy, he lived next door to the house which was owned by his aunt. Santiago dreamed that someday he would own the house.

At his wedding, Santiago promised to give Gloria a flower every day and build a stone house for her.  And so, when he bought his aunt’s house, he began enlarging the cement and adobe structure with small rocks, pebbles, stones and “trash” he found around town. The stones are of all sizes, shapes, shades and come from various regions of Colombia and different countries and continents. They are interspersed with bamboo, cane, tiles, tiles, rubble, remains of churches and other buildings, stained glass windows and even spectacle lenses. Santiago had no training in construction or design and began building based on the material at hand.

In the early years, Santiago would find stones around town and bring home some type of building material every day. Today much of the building material is given to him.

Our Visit

When we arrived by taxi, we weren’t sure we were in the right place because there was no sign.   What we saw was an old house with an elderly man sitting on the steps. Even the elderly man was unaware that tourists came to see the house until we told him. He joined us during our tour.

We knocked on the door and Gloria answered. She let us in and then Santiago who gave us a tour of the house. He was very proud of his house and loved to show it off.  He said, “I want to build every day until I run out of strength: “I do not see myself retired, this has never exhausted me. I work for my wife, for my daughters and my grandchildren … What motivates me is love “.

He took us from room to room, pointing out how he built each room. The house has 5 bedrooms, 3 baths, a kitchen, a study room, a loft, dining area, an open courtyard with a fountain, and nooks and crannies throughout the house. On the third floor, he showed us the adobe bricks he was using to build a wall around the courtyard.

When we returned to the first floor we were greeted by Gloria in the kitchen. She offered us tea and sweet bread. We sat with her and she talked about the house, her children and grandchildren who love to visit twice a year from the United States.

Santiago and Gloria don’t charge an admission fee for tours and their house is always open to visitors. They support themselves with tips from the tours of their home.  We enjoyed meeting this sweet couple.  After 32 years they still appear to be newlyweds building their first new home.