Greg and Marissa Frankenfield—the new owners of Old Log Theater in Excelsior—had vacationed to Playa del Carmen, Mexico, for years before purchasing oceanfront property in the community in mid-2011.
After buying the property, the Frankenfields had to start thinking creatively and logistically. They dreamed of a tranquil getaway where they could relax with kids Steven, 25, Jake, 23, David, 21, and Jessa, 13. They pictured a home where locally sourced design elements would mix seamlessly with modern amenities in an airy space. Bright colors, ample bedrooms and a traditional thatched-roof palapa overlooking the water were also on the list of must-haves. Because of the waterfront location, they knew that beach building restrictions—plus corrosive sea salt and hurricanes—would also play a role in their planning.
But with thousands of miles between them and their new vacation home project, how would they turn that big dream into a reality?
Luckily, the Frankenfields are veterans of the design process. Marissa’s father was an architect, and she recalled his most flexible clients often ended up happiest. So the couple gave lots of leeway for Mexico-based builder Francisco Kyle and architect Fabian Huerta to speak to the building’s placement on the lot, optimize the square footage and maintain a distinctly Mexican feel. Between in-person planning sessions, they relied on email to help them develop the floor plan of what soon became known as “Casa Mayette” (“casa” is the Spanish word for “house,” plus Marissa’s childhood nickname).
Having worked with Katie Bassett of KBI Design while remodeling parts of their Excelsior home on Christmas Lake in 2006, the Frankenfields insisted they’d have no one else design their Playa home. “Greg and Marissa are so much fun to work with,” says Bassett. “They have great ideas, are not afraid of color, love art, enjoy the process and trust their professionals. They are dream clients.” So from Minnesota, the three began focusing the design aesthetic and finding inspiration through books and online galleries.
Designing and building a home from afar brought unique challenges: language barriers, metric measurements and foreign building permits, to name a few. “You have to have a good design team that you trust,” says Bassett, who has designed clients’ homes in Florida, Oregon, Arizona, Montana, Mexico and California. “A designer or architect can work from anywhere, but a great local builder is key because he is going to have connections to local vendors and contractors.”
With just a few months to get the home ready for guests that winter, Marissa and Katie planned a five-day trip to Mexico to make selections with the builder and architect. “There was a lot of prep before going to Mexico that week,” says Marissa. “Katie and I talked on the plane, made a strategy and planned out the days we would spend in Playa.”
Bassett recalls the builder telling her, “Remember, hurricanes will happen. It’s just a matter of time.” So the home is built on solid concrete, which was being poured the day the women arrived in Playa. Having only five days to pick out all of the finishes and furniture and fill the home, the women spent the first two days selecting materials with Kyle and Huerta. One of the goals was to use as many local resources as possible, so they picked coral flooring tile, onyx for the kitchen island, and indoor-outdoor tree trunk columns sourced from the west coast of Mexico. A tree stump from a local forest would be the base of the dining room table. Beds would be custom-built by local designers, and a local merchant would create one-of-a-kind sofas for the curved, domed living room. The palapa would be designed with durability in mind: rope and vine would be used instead of rust-prone metals.
Kyle enlisted his wife and business partner Carolina De Lagrave to work on landscaping, and asked seamstress Sylvia Acensión to create custom bedding, slipcovers and window treatments to soften the space. With a lot left to do before the home would be guest-ready, Acensión became a pivotal part of the team, as she doubled as translator and guide while the women scoured local boutiques for art, furniture and architectural pieces, such as the salvaged chandelier Kyle found that became the focal point of the living room.
The team even drove 45 minutes to a Costco in Cancún (yes, one exists there) for a one-day shopping spree at the end of their trip. It took two dedicated store employees, hot dogs eaten on the fly, a private check-out lane, five flatbed carts and a hired truck to secure all the remaining essentials for the home. “Everyone was staring at us,” says Bassett. “It was a whirlwind!”
Though the planning and traveling was frenzied, Marissa thinks it was all worth it. “You know how some people have cabins?” she says. “Casa Mayette is my serene getaway. It’s where I can really let loose and breathe.”
&
KBI Design Studios (Katie Bassett Interiors)
4800 Sunnyside Road, Edina
612.385.1456
Home rental website: additional photos, description, and rental info at casamayette.com/
