San Lorenzo

About San Lorenzo:

San Lorenzo sits in the highlands between Comitancillo to the north and San Antonio Sacatepéquez and San Pedro Sacatepéquez to the south, with Tejutla, Río Blanco and the municipality of San Marcos closing the rest of its borders. In a straight line the town is only ten kilometres from San Marcos city, but the road winds through the hills and the trip comes to 23 kilometres. That keeps the department’s urban core, San Marcos and San Pedro, within an easy drive for banks, hospitals and the bigger markets. Inside the municipality, the road into town runs through aldea Talquichó, and another passes through Corinto Zacualpa. If a house in an outlying caserío catches your eye, drive the last stretch yourself and ask how it holds up in the rainy season.

The town grew up between 1690 and 1700 as a mestizo settlement, with families of Mam origin from the neighbouring villages and Spanish settlers from Écija, and it got its own municipal government on 25 May 1812. Spanish is the everyday language, and Mam is also spoken. Its best-known son is Justo Rufino Barrios, the general who led the Liberal Reform and governed Guatemala from 1873 to 1885. At the family estate known as Cuna de Barrios, one room of the main house is now a small museum, and a monument topped by his bust stands near the entrance. The town fair runs from 19 July to 10 August, the feast of San Lorenzo.

Farming is still the main work. At close to 2,600 metres this is cold country, and the fields show it: wheat, potatoes, broad beans, maize and beans, with broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, turnips and cabbage in the vegetable plots. Orchards add apples, peaches, matasano and guinda. Some 14,000 people on 25 square kilometres works out to more than 500 per square kilometre, and most farmland is split into small family plots rather than large holdings. So what usually comes up for sale is a few cuerdas next to a house, not an open estate.

The town itself is divided into four cantons: El Centro, El Reformador, Nuevo México and Posa Verde. Around it lie the aldeas of Talquichó, Corinto Zacualpa, Cerro Grande, San José Río Hondo and Santa Rosa, plus caseríos such as La Ciénaga, La Cumbre, Paconche and Ixcamal. Most buyers are local families looking for somewhere to build or to add space for the next generation. The new lot project beside Cuna de Barrios is sold both as a place for a first family home and as a way to put savings into land.

Houses in San Lorenzo:

Town houses are spread across the four cantons, a few blocks from the park, the church and the municipal building. Some come with a wide yard or a strip of land behind them, which counts for a lot in a municipality this short of space. In the aldeas, a house usually stands beside the family’s own fields. When you look at houses for sale in San Lorenzo, ask what the walls and roof are made of and how the house copes with cold nights and heavy rain. Before making an offer, confirm the water connection, drainage and electricity, and check that the property is registered in the seller’s name.

Land and Lots in San Lorenzo:

Land here is counted in cuerdas, and outside the town most parcels are working fields of potatoes, wheat, maize and vegetables. Building lots come up around the town and along the roads through the aldeas. Much of this land has been passed down and divided between heirs, so the parcel you are shown may be one share of a larger family holding. Before buying land in San Lorenzo, San Marcos, look closely at the slope, the access road and where the water will come from.

New Developments in San Lorenzo:

Cañadas del Reformador is a subdivision of 80 lots a short walk from Cuna de Barrios. Lots start at 10 by 20 metres and are sold as fully urbanised, meaning streets and services should be in place before you build. It is aimed at families after a first home and at buyers who want to put money into land. Before you sign, ask to see the project’s municipal licence, confirm that each lot has been split off and registered on its own, and check that water, drainage and power are connected rather than just promised.

FAQ:

• How far is San Lorenzo from San Marcos city?

  It is 23 kilometres by road, though only ten in a straight line. San Pedro Sacatepéquez borders the municipality to the south, and together with San Marcos it holds the department’s main hospitals, banks and markets.

• What is Cuna de Barrios?

  It is the estate San Lorenzo honours as the birthplace of Justo Rufino Barrios, born on 19 July 1835. One room of the main house is a small museum full of memorial plaques, the oldest from 1907, and a monument with his bust stands by the entrance. The municipality’s new lot subdivision is a short walk away.

• What kind of property can I buy in San Lorenzo?

  Family houses in the four town cantons, small farm plots measured in cuerdas in the aldeas, and serviced building lots in the new subdivision near Cuna de Barrios. Large estates rarely change hands in a municipality this small.

• What grows on farmland here?

  Cold-country crops: wheat, potatoes, broad beans, maize and beans, plus vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. Apple and peach trees do well at this altitude, which is worth knowing if you want a plot that can feed a household.

• What should I check before buying a plot in San Lorenzo?

  Many plots are shares of inherited family land, so first make sure the piece you are buying has been formally split off and registered in the seller’s name at the property registry. Then walk the boundaries with the neighbours, measure the cuerdas against the deed, and see what the access road is like in the rainy season.