This colourful townhouse in Mérida is an ideal launchpad for exploring the old Mayan city.

Casa Cárdenas sits on Calle 53, close to Santiago Park and the city’s buzzing art district. It belongs to travel writers Adam McCullough and Emma Sloley, who bought the 19th-century house back in 2009/10 and set about giving it an update.

The couple come with strong design credentials. McCullough trained as a industrial designer and worked on the production design of films like The Matrix. Meanwhile, Sloley ran a Midcentury furniture store in Melbourne

Taking the colonial house back to its bones, they added a third storey, guest apartment and a swimming pool. More impressively, all the work was done without the aid of machines or even a wheelbarrow.

On the ground floor, glass divisions have replaced brick walls so you can look through the entire length of the property. Rooms are painted in a bright Mayan colour palette and furnished with vintage Art Deco and Midcentury pieces.

The house has five bedrooms and offers 4,000 sq ft of living space, including a screening room, dining area and large rooftop terrace.

You can rent it via Airbnb.