Before & After: This Canary Islands Home Was a Crumbling Ruin, but She Rebuilt It Piece by Piece

Patricia Betancort Ramos uses local materials and traditional processes to revive an ancient stone structure on Lanzarote.
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It’s 98 degrees on Lanzarote, one of Spain’s Canary Islands, yet sitting in the office of her home in the historic town of Teguise, architect Patricia Betancort Ramos is comfortably cool. Behind her is a limewashed wall punctuated with patches of gray—the result of moisture rising through its ancient stone structure, and the island’s perpetually humid climate. While most designers might try to conceal this natural phenomenon with layers of primer and paint, Patricia has embraced it.

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