A Brief History of El Atascadero
Long an oasis in beautiful central Mexico, El Atascadero has a long and storied background. This refurbished hacienda has been a silk farm, a convent, a ranch, and for 50 years has been considered one of Mexico’s most pleasant and famous hotels.
The hacienda dates back to the 1880s, when San Miguel was the center of the burgeoning Mexican silk industry. The site where the Atascadero now stands was commissioned by Mexican President, General Porfirio Diaz, to Monsieur Hipolito Chambon as a silk factory, since its weather and lush terrain were ideal ground upon which to plant Moraceo trees, upon whose leaves the silk worms feasted.
This particular chapter of the hacienda’s history is commemorated by a magnificent mural on the hotel’s grounds, next to the chapel. It was painted in the 1960s by Miriam McKinnie, an American historian and researcher whose focus was the Mexican silk trade.
Following the decline of the silk trade, the hacienda changed ownership several times. It was most noticeably owned and operated as a ranch by Pepe Ortiz, a world-famous bullfighter of the early 20th century. An expat Spaniard, it was Ortiz who built upon the grounds the hotel’s iconic outdoor fronton court, a traditional Spanish sport that mixes the blinding speed of Jai Alai with the tactical strategy of racquetball.
In 1942, peruvian writer Felipe Cossio del Pomar purchased the hacienda from Ortiz, financing the transaction through the sale of two original Gauguins. What he initially envisioned as an American style university, soon turned into a writer’s retreat, where well-known poets and artists such as Pablo Neruda, Rafael Heliodoro Valle, Mario Talavera, Jesus Silvia Herzog, Gabriela Mistral, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Eugenia Imaz would languish, philosophize, and, most importantly, write, inspired by the beauty of the grounds and the tranquility of the setting.
After Cossio del Pomar’s departure in 1944, the hacienda changed ownership to the Campanellas, an Italian family of two brothers, Alfredo, Mario, and a sister, Ana Maria. Under their ownership, the hacienda soon became a victim of neglect and disrepair.
It languished in this state until 1956, when Fortunato Maycotte, a former Mexican Air Force pilot, moved with his new family to San Miguel de Allende. Sensing a wonderful opportunity, he purchased the hacienda from Don Nazario Ortiz Garza, a prominent Mexican impresario who owned the hacienda's mortgage. Fortunato Maycotte converted the property into a hotel within two years, furnishing the first few rooms with furniture from his own home.
Over the years, Fortunato, along with his wife, Gloria, managed and operated the hotel, and it grew from its humble beginnings to the 51-room resort it is today. Gradually, El Atascadero flourished, and now sits atop the town as one of the oldest and most revered hotels in San Miguel de Allende.
