Casa Gilardi — Attraction in Mexico City

First, the good...

If you're a fan of architecture, you'll love this house! It's a smaller, more intimate, lived-in version of the Casa de Luis Barragan, which is located just a few blocks away.

Casa Gilardi is geometric, full of light and amazing colors. Religious imagery, paintings, and cool decorations all over. Multiple colorful terrazzos with clay pots, trees, cacti, and large round stones. The most surprising feature is the red, white, and blue colored indoor pool room at the back of the house - and the dining table/space is located in the same room! Never seen that before, and it was pretty wonderful.

Now, the bad...

The owner/host and his family live in the house - they give private tours. And they were friendly enough. But the family has a large Husky dog, called Bruno. And Bruno is NOT a well-behaved dog. As soon as I walked into the house, he was paying a lot of attention to me. Sort of playful, at first. Jumping up on me, licking my face. But then he got scary, staring at me in an aggressive way, barking, etc. He is a large, powerful dog, so this was a bit intimidating. And the thing is, I like dogs! And so I wasn't really scared, I just pushed him off me, and eventually Bruno backed off. But he still followed us around during the whole tour, acting up on occasion. And the owner didn't really do much during all this, just kind of let it happen. Very unprofessional. Basically, the owner of the house has very little control over his dog. I made it through the tour with no problem but it's a bad situation waiting to happen....

Also, the host charges $300 MXN to enter the house, and another $500 MXN if you want to take photos. A bit pricey, in my opinion.

Overall, I do recommend this place for architecture lovers. If it weren't for the out-of-control pup, I would have given this place 5 Stars! But if you are afraid of dogs, you...

I visited in october 2021 + it was a extraordinarily special tour to be a part of. The tour guide is incredibly knowledge + forthcoming with information. The house itself is breath taking. Well worth a visit.

However i visited again yesterday in february 2022 + was completely devastated. The tour has gone from 8 people private + personal to 32 people. The tour guide gave no information + allowed people to wonder about the home without any guidance. The home itself was in disarray as an exhibit was being removed. There was construction work art wrapped up in frames, cardboard and other materials lying about the house. The host also allowed guests to take photos so this once special place became an instagram posting haven. It was truly upsetting to see the last house barragán built being treated this way. It felt like a money grab as i don’t believe the house was in any shape to be toured + the tour guide was not in any shape to lead a tour. In the future i would suggest that the family take the days in between exhibits off + wait the house to be returned to its...

The review is equally about the house itself (great in every way), and the guide (even greater). Even if you have never read anything about the architect or the house, the guide, who grew up in the house, would give you excellent introductions so by the end of the tour you will at least having passing knowledge to boast at a cocktail party. March to May probably is the best time to visit since the Jacaranda tree, which the house is built around, is in blossom and you will see why Barragan chose the colors of the walls as such. Since the house is still lived in by the original owner, there is no better way to experience it as they have done in years. Highly recommended. Also, not sure if it is related to the house itself or not, on the garage door next to the entrance there is a street mural of a portrait of Barragan based on one of the...