Two photos of “my” studio

by Rosemary Davis, text and photos

Pedro Vargas, the famous tenor and actor worked mainly out of Mexico City, but kept a home here in San Miguel on Calle Mesones. Then, in the 1950s, he built a villa high on a hill overlooking the city near the Mirador.

A handsome man with dark bushy eyebrows and a striking stature, Pedro Vargas had a lengthy career that included singing countless concerts on stage and acting in over 70 motion pictures during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. He also appeared on the small screen, venturing into television in its early years. The Studio of Pedro Vargas, a musical variety show with Vargas as its host premiered on TV in 1959, lasting for 10 years. He made many other television appearances throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

Five years ago, drawn mainly by the promise of poets to meet and photographs to take, I left behind my teaching job at the University of Minnesota and the cold winters of the North for my ongoing adventure here in San Miguel. Over these five years, in five different neighborhoods, I've had five different living situations, including a single room, a duplex, and currently a new build. But my favorite abode was where I first landed, in the writing and performance studio of the Mirador property once owned by Pedro Vargas.

The caretakers' casita

Born in 1906, Pedro had a modest childhood in a religious household. After coming of age, Vargas tried several paths, including bullfighting and medicine, before studying opera at the National Conservatory of Music in Mexico City. Soon he switched to popular music and his career took off. He became an international sensation.

In the early 1930s, Teresa Campos married Vargas. They conceived and raised four children. Between them and Pedros' 11 siblings, the villa, after its construction in the mid-50s, was kept in constant motion during holidays and the summer months. There they entertained people from the world of politics, movie stars, and international musicians. Other performers secured property in the area, which made for a community of artists along Salida Real a Queretaro.

I had looked at three other houses that day, five years ago. My realtor wanted to skip the last one on my list, but I insisted on seeing it. Having seen its advertisement, I was drawn to the studio's small courtyard, massive fireplace, modern furniture and terracotta floors. And the reality of the studio, a free-standing stucco building next door to but on the same property as the villa, did not disappoint me.

The villa iteself intrigued me from the start. When I moved into the studio the property's owners gave me a guided tour of the estate, including the inside of the villa. While I lived there, except for me, and a caretaker family who lovingly attended to it, the estate was vacant. Then, during my stay, when the villa was renovated, the caretakers kept me updated, showing me the progress as it happened.

The villa contains a long, rectangular great room filled with couches, comfortable chairs, lined with an extensive row of arched windows that allow a view of the grounds and the city of San Miguel below and the countryside beyond. The house also has a den, office, kitchen, and dining room. Overlooking the high desert of San Miguel, its 3,498 square feet, featuring six bedrooms and six bathrooms, fit perfectly on the enormous acreage. All the many rooms exist on one floor and flow from the great room. Its den holds, (or at least did during my residency in the studio) much of the memorabilia from Vargas' travels: a photo of him with Frank Sinatra, paintings of bullfighters, along with his Steinway piano, gold records, and a bar. With its Mexican tiles and colonial design, the home no doubt still stuns its many admirers.

The property includes two casitas. One is for the caretakers, deep in the property, with its outdoor kitchen. The other is Vargas' writing and performance studio where I lived. It features high boveda ceilings and an open floor plan, with metal-and-glass French doors leading to a small porch and a wooden front door opening onto a patio with a fountain. This was mine to enjoy, but without the large desk and piano I imagine were present in Vargas' time.

While captivating legions of Mexican and American fans this was Vargas' escape. The grounds contain numerous fruit trees, several varieties of cacti, along with an extensive series of terraces and grassy knolls which lead to the tennis court and pool. While these amenities suffered some disrepair after Vargas' death in 1989, the villa itself did not lose its charm. During the recent renovation, a large hot tub and fire pit were added, and the villa was made available for rent to groups.

The location at the Mirador afforded Vargas and his guests, including me, a startling view of the San Miguel and the countryside beyond, photographic at any time of day. At night with its twinkling lights and its illuminated Parroquia tower, our city is, as ever, a sight to see.

I got to know some of the merchants whose wares lined the end of the Mirador, and also the woman and her daughter who run a little restaurant across the street. I often offered to take tourist photos, using their camera, so that they could all be included in the image. A bronze statue of Pedro Vargas stands next to the villa at the Mirador, so that both tourists and locals alike can see that the Nightingale of the Americas once lived there.

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Rosemary Davis is a freelance writer and photographer. She loves to garden, make collages, and watch documentaries. Davis belongs to the Not Dead Yet Poetry group that meets every Sunday at Casa de la Noche. She is the author of the San Francisco memoir, Before They Left Us. She was on the editorial board of the Water-Stone Review at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN, where she graduated with an MFA in Writing. Publishing credits include literary magazines, anthologies, the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper, and the Austin American-Statesman in Texas.

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