When Catherine Schneider bought her vacation home in Reparto Dolores Patrón, a neighborhood close to central Merida in the Yucatan, Mexico, she did her research. It turns out, that hers was one of about a hundred houses built in 1928, as part of a public works initiative by the governor at the time. These concrete houses were small, about 4×8 meters, but each had their own courtyard and every two shared a wind vane to supply water. Each week, the local board conducted a lottery, and ownership of a single house was granted to the winner.
