The couple met at New Mexico State University, Donna from Carlsbad and Jack from Alamogordo. During one trip to Juarez 38 years ago, they decided to get married. “On the way back after the ceremony, the cab driver asked if we wanted to get married. When we told him we just did, he asked if we wanted to get a divorce,” Donna says about that day, showing a glimpse of character that Mexico always seems to offer (later, after the family found out the two had tied the knot, they had a second ceremony at a church in Carlsbad). “From the very beginning we started in Juarez.”
After a brief time away, the couple moved to El Paso 30 years ago to raise their two children, Jeran, 37, married to husband John with a 1-year-old daughter Josephine, and son Jordan, 29. After the two graduated from Coronado High School and Texas Tech University, Jeran relocated to Washington, D.C. and Jordan to Chicago. “They love to come back and visit because of the weather and because it is so slow compared to where they are,” Donna says.
With their children grown, and ever-growing love for Mexico, Donna and Jack began to focus on capturing the creative culture, “bringing the flavor of Mexico home,” Donna says. To do that, the couple hired Susana Lujan, originally from Mexico, to design their home built a little over a year ago. Together, they worked to create a Mexican-style home filled with Saltillo tile floors, Talavera tiled counters, knotty alder and cedar beams.
The home welcomes those who enter with a 30-foot high entryway, and a view straight through the living room, and out the back doors to the El Paso skyline. To one side is a tiled staircase with black ironwork heading to the second floor and on the other side, a massive 12-foot-long Indian sideboard with a large Spanish framed screen above it. Multi-colored plates, bowls and Mexican curios from Juarez and other various Mexican cities line the sideboard. A Mexican chandelier hangs high above from the ceiling.
In the two-story home - a little over 3,000 sq. feet - are three bedrooms, one office, three-and-a-half baths and a great room containing a formal dining room, living room and a slight turn into the kitchen. In the living room, knotty alder cabinets bring comfort, and a place for even more Mexican curios. Cedar beams rise above the “made in Mexico” concrete molding the fireplace. The kitchen is a spark of color, with brightly colored tile on the counters and as a backsplash with a unique shelf built into the wall near the kitchen table. The master bathroom and powder room off from the living room share the same vibrant colored tile and also feature handcrafted framed mirrors.
Donna says much of what she learned in decorating her home is the creativity of her Mexican neighbors, and visits to their vacation home in a small Mexican town.
“The minute you cross the border, there is total relaxation. We wanted to try and capture that in our home,” she says. “The people in Mexico are so charming and helpful. We just appreciate the culture, and the way they can make something beautiful out of nothing.”
|
