This is a chapel that BB, one of my partners at Rancho Santana, built for the Rancho Santana community. He designed it himself. The style, as you can see, is very simple and mostly traditional. It’s quite beautiful, and sits on top of one of the higher hills on this side of the property, so you can see it from many vantage points.

Nicaragua is very Catholic. And there was some discussion of whether this should be a Catholic church, too. But my partner is not Catholic. I think he considers himself an Episcopalian, which, as I understand it, is one of the more ecumenical of the Christian religions. The decision was to make it non-denominational. But as MN, another partner who is Jewish, pointed out, if it’s got a cross on top, it’s not really non-denominational.

BB has been planning on building it almost since we first bought this land, 23 years ago. It was commissioned about three years ago and is barely a year old. But it’s already served the community well and frequently – for religious ceremonies, for weddings and baptisms, and for funerals. And just last week, it served as a refuge for more than a dozen families whose homes were flooded after the hurricane.

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