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Architect Andrés Gutiérrez renovated a 1962 home in Mexico City’s San Ángel neighborhood for a couple who wanted livelier interiors without losing the building’s original character. The project retained key features, including woodwork and flooring, restored the living room’s bookshelves, and introduced colorful interiors with furniture and art by Mexican makers and creatives.
Architect Andrés Gutiérrez has renovated a house designed in 1962 by Mexican architect Jaime Ortiz Monasterio, refreshing its interiors for a couple who wanted a more playful home while preserving its mid-century architecture. The house is in San Ángel, Mexico City, and the project combines restored features, including the living room bookshelves, with vivid colors, Mexican-made furniture and artwork by Mexican creatives.
Gutiérrez, whose studio is A-G estudio, led both the renovation and interior design. He told Livingetc that the owners wanted the home to feel “younger, fresher, and more reflective of who they are” while still respecting the original architecture. They also sought a distinctly Mexican identity without relying on what he described as folkloric clichés.
The renovation focused on retaining original features rather than remaking the structure. Gutiérrez said the team preserved as much of the house’s original character as possible, particularly its floors and extensive woodwork. Some timber was replaced, and the window frames and glass were renewed. The team also restored the living room’s nearly floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, which had been removed by a previous owner.
The interiors set a brighter mood through a palette that includes lilac rugs and sofas, duck-egg walls and pea-green upholstered chairs. Furniture was made in Mexico, including pieces by established designer Antonio Attolini Lack and contemporary studios Ad Hoc, Bibi Bibi and Comité de Proyectos. Some pieces were customized, while Gutiérrez designed cabinets, credenzas and outdoor dining chairs. The art is also by Mexican creatives, according to the architect.
Modernist Structure, Brighter Interiors
The project offers an example of how a renovation can change a home’s atmosphere without treating its architectural history as an obstacle. The owners’ request was not to reproduce the house’s original period style, but to make the interiors feel more personal and contemporary while retaining defining elements of the 1962 design.
That balance matters in a home with an identified architectural legacy. Gutiérrez’s account describes a practical approach: retain the floors and woodwork, restore the removed library feature, and use furniture, art, color and updated window components to give the house a new identity. The reporting does not provide a cost, construction timeline or technical evaluation of the work, so the project’s wider implications should be understood as a design example rather than a measured renovation outcome.
Mexican-made mid-century modern furniture
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The House’s Library-Like Origins
The home stands in San Ángel, a Mexico City neighborhood known for colonial architecture as well as modernist buildings. Livingetc identifies the house’s designer as Jaime Ortiz Monasterio and dates its design to 1962. The owners inherited the property and, according to Gutiérrez, appreciated its original architecture even as they wanted the interior to feel less formal.
Gutiérrez said the house had originally been conceived almost as a “library to live in,” but that little of that concept remained when he first saw it. Restoring the living room bookshelves became a way to reconnect the updated interiors with that idea. The furniture and artwork draw on different periods and sources within Mexican visual culture; the architect said the aim was for them to coexist, not to recreate one particular era.
“They wanted to take away some of its seriousness and make it feel younger, fresher, and more reflective of who they are.”
— Architect Andrés Gutiérrez, speaking to Livingetc
Project Details Not Reported
Livingetc’s report does not state when the renovation was completed, how long the work took or what it cost. It also does not provide a room-by-room account of the construction, a full inventory of retained materials, or independent documentation of the house’s architectural history beyond identifying Ortiz Monasterio as its designer and 1962 as its design date.
The account of the owners’ preferences and the renovation’s aims comes from Gutiérrez. No separate comments from the homeowners are included, and the source does not describe how the changes affect the property’s market value or energy performance.
No Further Project Milestone Listed
The source presents the renovation as a completed project but does not identify a forthcoming construction phase, public event or additional milestone. It is also unclear whether the owners or A-G estudio plan to share further project details, such as the renovation budget or a fuller account of the work.
For now, the reported outcome is the contrast between the home’s preserved modernist elements and its more colorful interiors, with the restored bookshelves reconnecting the living room to the house’s original library concept.
Key Questions
Where is the renovated house?
It is in San Ángel, Mexico City, an area with colonial and modernist architecture.
Who designed the original house?
Livingetc identifies Mexican mid-century architect Jaime Ortiz Monasterio as the designer and dates the house’s design to 1962.
Who led the renovation?
Andrés Gutiérrez of A-G estudio handled the renovation and interior design.
What original features were retained or restored?
Gutiérrez said the team retained the floors and much of the woodwork, replaced some timber, renewed window frames and glass, and restored the living room bookshelves removed by a previous owner.
What gives the updated interiors their color and Mexican identity?
The interiors use lilac, duck-egg and pea-green tones, with furniture made in Mexico and artwork by Mexican creatives. The architect said the aim was to bring different moments in Mexican design and visual culture together rather than reproduce one period.
Source: rss
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