Hacienda Tetlapayac with church in background. Photo: Agustín V. Casasola, early 1900s.						7 of 7   Setting the Stage The Encounter Colonial Life Independence
	HACIENDAS AND HOMESTEADS he elite of the Spanish colonies and later republics built great houses in the cities as well as country estates. Urban houses were designed around an enclosed central patio and garden, and were often two storied. Such designs had precedents in Moorish- and Roman-style homes as well as pre-Columbian palaces. Local stone and tile were used as building materials. Although encomiendas were abolished, haciendas took their place. Haciendas were self-sufficient and self-contained estates where wealthy Spanish “lords” governed populations of Indian laborers in a feudal-like system. Each hacienda produced its own food, clothes, and amenities, as well as a money crop like sugar or coffee. Hacienda architecture was immense and gracious, characterized by lofty rooms and open spaces. The main house was surrounded by work buildings, a chapel, barns, an aqueduct and cisterns, corrals, and quarters for laborers.