Casita

What is a casita? I was not familiar with this term before we bought our new poshranch.

Casita: (especially in the US Southwest) a small house or other building (Oxford dictionary).

Um, ‘other building’? Other could really mean anything. Our new home in Cheyenne has a building in the front of the house called a casita. I had no idea what this was so I decided to explore the casita a little more.

Within the context of our home, it is a small room not attached to the main house except by a covered walkway (see pictures below). In the real estate listing the casita was mentioned, but didn’t mean anything to me at first. ‘This home also has a wonderful casita!’ Ok, well, not sure I can get excited about that. Is that good? Maybe some of you already know what a casita is, but for me it was a brand new term.

In the true translation a casita is a small house or cottage. It appears to be a type of guest house. However, the casita at our new home does not have a bathroom or a kitchen so that makes it a bit less functional. However, it does have a separate entrance, electricity and heating and cooling; though I can’t see a guest tromping outside the casita in the middle of a snowy, windy night to use the bathroom in the main house. Just not gonna happen. Plus, we would actually like to have guests and visitors, not deter them because they have to use a bucket in the corner of the casita. And, ew, just ew. Guess I’d better stock up on hand sanitizer for use in the casita.

Below is a picture of the walkway from the main door to the casita. Covered is good in a windy place. Wonder how long it would take to run from one door to the other…3 seconds? I’d probably slip on the ice. We’ll see how the snow drifts in the walkway. The casita will need a bucket AND a shovel for guests. And, I’ve been told by the family members who were up at our new home today, the little patio is a wind tunnel. Maybe some wind mitigation is in order for this area, especially for the winter.

Below is a picture of the front of the house, from an angle, of course and shows how the casita is oriented to the main house.

And here is a picture of the inside. Basic room. It looked like the previous owners had a small business in there. For us we think it would be a great place for our pool table. Just have to take the 3 second run between the casita and the main house in the winter to use the bathroom, or wash hands, or anything that requires water.

I promise that anyone who visits us will not have to stay in the casita, with a bucket for a bathroom, and a snow to shovel your way out to the main house to use the bathroom. We have a very nice guest room with a private bathroom. Visitors (yes we want them!!) will be discussed in a future blog. And, future visitors, please don’t be deterred by the wind in Wyoming. We look forward to having lots of visitors. We will have a stocked bar, private bed and bath, coffee bar for the morning, great view, animals (who can resist cute dogs??), warmth in the winter with fireplaces and great conversation. Hopefully it will be a haven for anyone who just wants a quick weekend getaway. We won’t even be offended if you don’t want to converse with us; well, maybe we will…hopefully you’ll come because of the great amenities AND the great company and conversation.

Until next time…