My wife, Emilia, and I live on a two-acre ranchito about 25 minutes from San Miguel de Allende, Mexico (6200 ft. elevation). Our home is definitely a work in progress; built Mexican style: pay as you go and leave the re-bar sticking out for future additions. It presently has about 1000 square feet (100 square meters) of interior space with plenty of terraces for outdoor living. Most of the first floor is of adobe construction. Later additions and roofs are lightweight aggregate. South facing windows and overhang provide passive solar heat in the wintertime. All roofs are masonry vaults with shell motifs.