The forgotten history of Gringo Gulch, Puerto Vallarta’s cultural crossroads

From a lofty perch overlooking the clamor of Puerto Vallarta’s Malecon and the ever-buzzing Zona Romántica, wherever astir tourists thin to cluster, lies a quiescent country of the metropolis that often gets overlooked. Just a fewer elevated steps distant from downtown’s cobblestone chaos is Gringo Gulch, a hillside vicinity with a bird’s-eye presumption of the Bay of Banderas and a communicative acold deeper than its gussied facades suggest. 

From the vantage constituent of Gringo Gulch’s terraced homes, the bay yawns wide, a country that erstwhile captivated Hollywood royalty and inspired a distinctive architectural style. Red-tiled rooftops peek done cascading bougainvillea and wrought-iron balconies spill implicit with potted palms. Visually classic, yes, but besides the mounting for a taste speech that helped specify modern-day Vallarta.

The Gringo Gulch is simply a #PuertoVallarta colorfull neighbourhood, wherever you tin instrumentality astonishing photos and sojourn the location of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. It is genuinely a beauteous humanities zone. pic.twitter.com/D2dWtd7IoD

— Puerto Vallarta (@PuertoVallarta) June 8, 2018

“The Gringo Gulch is much than conscionable a radical of houses connected a hill,” says Puerto Vallarta historiographer Moisés Hernández López. “It’s a tangible awesome of the brushwood betwixt 2 worlds, nestled connected the bluish slope of the Río Cuale and surrounded by the jungle vegetation that characterizes the bosom of Puerto Vallarta.”

While the Zona Romántica has go a magnet for trendy bars and pricey Airbnb rentals, Gringo Gulch holds the echoes of an aboriginal transformation. It’s the 1 that turned Puerto Vallarta from a quiescent sportfishing colony into a destination of planetary interest. In the 1950s, American and Canadian expats began settling conscionable down the historical center, drawn by the earthy beauty, affordable existent property and the tone of the section community. The sanction “Gringo Gulch” arose organically. 

“‘Gulch’ acceptable the earthy terrain of the ravine, and ‘gringo’ was utilized affectionately to notation to the bluish newcomers,” explains Hernández.

The architectural bequest of Freddy Romero

What acceptable this assemblage isolated was some the elevated determination and the architecture. The houses were designed with intention, led by Fernando “Freddy” Romero Escalante, a visionary designer who moved to Puerto Vallarta successful 1952. 

Architect Fernando “Freddy” Romero is liable for galore of the homes that populate Gringo Gulch. He sought to make a hybrid benignant that incorporated modern elements into Puerto Vallarta’s accepted architectural style. (Puertovallarta.net)

“Freddy’s bequest transcended that of a specified builder,” says Hernández. “He could discern the architectural essence of the municipality and metamorphose it into homes that paid homage to the situation and the section forms.”

Romero’s Estilo Vallarta, an architectural benignant helium pioneered, was rooted successful the landscape. Homes were built with adobe and tile, decorated with section ceramics, gardens and wrought-iron accents that reflected assemblage Mexico with a tropical twist. His designs were delicate to the situation and the town’s identity. 

Romero designed emblematic estates specified arsenic the Las Campanas analyzable and respective others connected Calles Matamoros, Mina, Galeana, Cuauhtémoc and Miramar. He was besides the driving unit down the constitution of the archetypal existent property bureau successful the city, according to Hernández. Often, Romero would beryllium seen navigating the constrictive streets successful his Jeep, tourists successful tow, introducing them to what would go their 2nd homes.

A taste crossroads connected the hill

“The overseas residents who took up residence successful Gringo Gulch during the fifties and sixties not lone procured properties but besides assimilated themselves into the cloth of assemblage life,” says Hernández. “They taught English classes, helped successful societal assistance groups similar the Red Cross and Becas Vallarta, a nonprofit enactment that raises funds for low-income students. Many adjacent joined locals, creating binational families.”

Figures similar Berenice Starr, who founded Biblioteca Los Mangos, and the Holt family, who promoted English education, near lasting legacies that stretched acold beyond the walls of their homes. Through these acts, Gringo Gulch became a assemblage of taste exchange.

Then the quiescent hillside was thrust into the spotlight.

In the 1960s, movie manager John Huston arrived to sprout “The Night of the Iguana,” and with him came Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and a tempest of paparazzi. Though not straight progressive successful the film, Taylor’s beingness successful Puerto Vallarta, and specifically successful Gringo Gulch, transformed the vicinity into a tabloid sensation. Casa Kimberly, the clump of homes wherever Taylor and Burton stayed, became a pilgrimage tract for fans and gossip columnists.

While the media frenzy brought planetary attention, the archetypal heartbeat of Gringo Gulch continued softly nether the radar. The vicinity inactive grew organically, supported by the thoughtful enactment of engineers similar Guillermo Wulff and Luis Favela Icaza, who helped plan homes that integrated with Romero’s aesthetic and the land’s topography. Infrastructure, including h2o tanks, pumps and pathways, was added to conscionable the needs of the increasing community. 

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor thrust Gringo Gulch into the planetary spotlight erstwhile they stayed successful a clump of casitas determination successful the 1960s. Taylor’s home, Casa Kimberly, which she kept until the 1990s, is present a luxury edifice made up of what were Burton and Taylor’s residences. (Casa Kimberly)

Hollywood glamor, lasting charm

“Gringo Gulch represents a cardinal section successful the urbanist past of Puerto Vallarta,” Hernández notes. “These homes weren’t plopped down arbitrarily. They were integrated into the hillside, designed to past and to respect what was already here.”

Today, arsenic luxury condos and high-rise hotels creep on the coast, Gringo Gulch remains mostly arsenic it was: a postulation of quiescent streets, shaded staircases and hidden plazas wherever the past inactive lingers successful the curve of a balcony oregon the hand-painted tile of a doorway. 

“The Gringo Gulch is regarded arsenic much than a hillside neighborhood,” Hernández says. “It is simply a surviving grounds of however a assemblage tin beryllium positively transformed by the coexistence of cultures. The vicinity has go a nucleus of identity, quality and planetary fraternity acknowledgment to the pioneering tone of men similar Fernando Romero Escalante and the openness of the Vallarta community.”

Learn much astir Freddy Romero successful this abbreviated documentary featuring the architect’s lad discussing however his begetter came to Puerto Vallarta successful the 1950s to plan homes for expats who fell successful emotion with the area.

As visitors watercourse successful for sunsets and thoroughfare tacos, fewer whitethorn recognize that conscionable supra them, successful a leafy enclave with the champion bay views successful town, lies the archetypal bosom of Vallarta’s planetary appeal. 

Getting to Gringo Gulch

Gringo Gulch is simply a abbreviated uphill locomotion from the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe oregon the Rio Cuale footbridge. The stairs and cobblestones are portion of the experience: Be definite to deterioration bully shoes. Stop for a portion astatine Casa Kimberly’s terrace bar, oregon simply rotation the streets and drawback photos of the bougainvillea blossoms and the views that erstwhile captured the hearts of Vallarta’s archetypal expat community.

Meagan Drillinger is simply a New York autochthonal who has spent the past 15 years traveling astir and penning astir Mexico. While she’s connected the roadworthy for assignments astir of the time, Puerto Vallarta is her location base. Follow her travels connected Instagram astatine @drillinjourneys oregon done her blog astatine drillinjourneys.com.