Todos Santos Cuchumatán

About Todos Santos Cuchumatán:

The town lies in the gorge of the Río Limón, below the limestone plateau that gives the Cuchumatanes their name. From Huehuetenango city it is 46 km: up through Chiantla, across the high plateau at more than 3,000 metres to the Paquix fork, then a long descent of some 600 metres into town. Guatemala City is 316 km away by the CA-1. Direct buses leave the Huehuetenango terminal very early in the morning, and the mountain stretch is prone to landslides in the rainy season, so check the road before you plan a viewing.

Farming and remittances carry the local economy. Potatoes dominate the high ground, broccoli is grown for export, and maize, beans and coffee fill the lower slopes, with collection centres at San Martín Cuchumatán, Mash, Chicoy and Tres Cruces. Nearly four in five households receive money from relatives in the United States, and much of what is not spent on daily needs goes into construction, which keeps local builders busy. Saturday is market day, Mam is the first language and Spanish the second, and between 31 October and 2 November the town fills for the fiesta and its horse race, when many emigrants fly home.

The municipality runs from 1,500 metres to more than 3,800, and where a plot sits on that range decides what it is good for. Up on the plateau around Chichim the houses are scattered, sheep and potatoes share the land, and frost from November to March limits what can be planted. San Martín Cuchumatán, at 1,800 metres, is warm enough for coffee and is the second-largest centre in the municipality. The town’s own forest and the subalpine meadows above it are protected as the K’ojlab’l Tze’ Te Tnom municipal regional park, and the Tuj Qman Txun ceremonial site is a short walk from the centre.

Buyers are almost all todosanteros: families building for the next generation, migrants buying from abroad through relatives, and people coming back after years in the US. Outside buyers are rare. Tourism is modest, with family-run guesthouses and a Spanish school that organises hikes to La Torre and the plateau. When you visit, ask before photographing anyone, children in particular; people here take that seriously.

Houses in Todos Santos Cuchumatán:

The typical newer home is two or three storeys of block and reinforced concrete with a flat poured roof, the terraza, often left ready for another floor. Many are built in stages as money arrives from the north, so a house can be lived in on the ground floor while the upper levels stay unfinished for years. Older single-storey homes still stand among them. If you are looking at houses for sale in Todos Santos Cuchumatán, ask who carried out each stage of the build and whether the structure was designed for the floors it now has.

Land and Lots in Todos Santos Cuchumatán:

Land here is held in very small owner-worked plots, and farmland is rarely rented out. Parcels are measured in cuerdas and sold for three different uses: potato and vegetable ground on the slopes near town, coffee land at lower altitude towards San Martín Cuchumatán, and grazing on the cold plateau. The town sits in a narrow gorge, so flat building ground close to the centre is limited. For land for sale in Todos Santos Cuchumatán, walk the access path in the wet season and check the plot is outside the municipal park before you talk price.

FAQ:

• How do I get to Todos Santos Cuchumatán from Huehuetenango?

  Take the road through Chiantla up onto the Cuchumatanes plateau, turn off at the Paquix fork and drop down into the valley; the whole trip is 46 km. Direct buses run from the Huehuetenango terminal, mostly in the early morning. In the rainy season, landslides can close the mountain stretch for a while, so allow extra time.

• The owner lives in the United States. How does a sale work?

  That is common here, since so many todosanteros work in Oakland and elsewhere. The seller can grant a power of attorney, a mandato, to a relative in Guatemala, signed before a notary or at a Guatemalan consulate, and your notary should confirm that the document is valid for this specific sale. Many emigrants come home for the fiesta at the start of November, which is often the easiest time to meet an owner in person.

• What should I check before buying a plot that has been split among heirs?

  Small parcels in Todos Santos are often divided between brothers and sisters as each generation inherits, and the boundaries on the ground do not always match what is written down. Ask whether the plot is registered in the property registry or held only by possession, get every co-heir’s signature, and have the measurements in cuerdas confirmed with the neighbours present. Check too that the land is not inside the K’ojlab’l Tze’ Te Tnom park, where building is restricted.

• Does the cold affect what I can grow or build?

  It depends on the altitude. On the plateau above 3,000 metres, frost from November to March limits farming to potatoes and hardy crops, and only scattered houses stand up there. The town itself is cool all year, while San Martín Cuchumatán, lower down, is warm enough for coffee, so compare plots by their height as well as their size.

• Is there more to the municipality than the town?

  Yes. San Martín Cuchumatán is the second urban centre and the agricultural heart of the valley, and aldeas and caseríos such as Mash, Chiabal, El Rancho, Chicoy, Tuipat and Tuiboch each have their own houses and farmland. Many are reached by dirt roads, so a plot that looks close on the map may be a long drive in practice.