International Living presents: The full-scale renovation of an old colonial is not something you take on lightly. In this Sunday Edition Classic, originally published Oct. 17, 2004, Kathleen considers whether the end result is worth the effort.

The Sounds of Rebirth

International Living Postcards--Sunday Edition

Sunday, Nov. 27, 2005

Dear International Living Reader,

Several dozen schoolchildren, in blue and white uniforms, are walking by my front window on their way to visit the Panama Canal Museum.

I'm sitting in our new Panama office, on the ground floor of the building we bought here in Casco Viejo a year ago. "Building" is kind. We bought a shell. The early 18th-century stone and brick walls and arches stood still…what remained of the front balconies off the second and third floors hung on tenaciously…after some digging we discovered the original well in the courtyard out the back. Otherwise, we didn't buy a piece of real estate so much as the opportunity to recreate a tiny piece of this quarter's history.

A year later, the place is a gem. Three apartments (a three-bedroom on the top floor, a two-bedroom on the middle floor, and a one-bedroom here on the ground floor), plus a front commercial space where we've installed our Panama office team. The stone and brick walls have been re-pointed and left exposed wherever possible. The floors have been laid with hand-painted tiles from Colombia. Every window is shuttered. The spindles on the front balconies have been repaired and replaced, each new one carved by hand. The old well is a feature in the back garden. Every original detail preserved or recreated…and all the conveniences and comforts of 21st-century living added. Dishwashers and DVD players…Direct TV and high-speed wireless Internet. The wood-paneled library attached to the office space is private and quiet. Close the doors and the noises from the street disappear.

I enjoy the street sounds, though. The banter of the schoolchildren on their way into the museum…the bang of the hammers and the whirr of the drills of the workmen renovating other structures around this main square…the shouts of the vendors drawing attention to their carts…

One out of three of the old Spanish and French colonial buildings around this plaza has been renovated, typically with the kind of care and attention to detail we've tried to bring to bear with our Casa Remon. The result is a feeling of renaissance…and a colorful landscape. Buildings painted bright yellows and greens…the upper floors private residences or apartments for rent, the bottom floors restaurants, government offices, and private businesses. A new restaurant, Manzanas, has opened on the ground floor of the sunflower-colored building across the square. We'll try it for dinner tomorrow night. I'll report back.

It's the rainy season, but we've seen rain but one of the four days we've been here. I sat on the second-floor balcony last night enjoying the breezes from the harbor down the street to the left and watching the activity on the square to the right. A glass of wine, a pleasant breeze, and a comfortable perch overlooking a pleasant old city. What more could you want from life?

Kathleen Peddicord
Publisher, International Living

P.S. Carlos V, king of Spain in the early 1500s, was the first to have the idea of a trans-isthmus canal. A bronze bust of King Carlos sits today in the center of what's known as the French Plaza, around the corner from Casa Remon.

P.P.S. Brandon here in our new offices would love to meet you. Stop by when you're in the neighborhood. We're on the corner of Plaza Catedral, across from the Canal Museum. He's here weekdays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Outside those hours, you can arrange to meet him by appointment.