On my first visit to Casa Spratling, Vio told me that I should visit the ranch that belonged to her father. It was out in the country and much quieter than being in town, but I like the bustling energy of a city so I didn’t take her up on her offer until this visit to Taxco. She told us she planned to take one of the other guests on a tour of the ranch and that a group of them were having dinner at a famous roadside eatery afterwards. That was the incentive I needed.
The guest whose tour we co-opted was Michelle, a silver designer living in Mexico city. She’d wanted to see the ranch because it contained the workshops and machinery that some of William Spratling’s 500 workers used to produce his designs.
On our way to the ranch, Vio stopped by to introduce us to her personal silversmith, Toño, the only man she trusts to carry on the Spratling design legacy, which her father had purchased the rights to after Spratling’s death.
Then came the visit to the ranch. It was an incredible property with presumed stories that radiated from its deteriorating but stately walls. The building felt alive as if it was still inviting people to come create.
In the main courtyard, two young women lounged by the pool while one older man with a camera around his neck spoke with them. Another older gentleman lounged in a large oval shaped room overlooking the pool. No explanation was given as to who they were or what they were doing there, but it seems that the property continues to generate stories.
William Spratling had retreated to the ranch to lick his wounds after his business failed in Taxco. In addition to his workers deciding to unionize, several of his apprentices had surpassed him with their design work, but in the 1950s, he began to design again. His new workshop was so successful that taxis from Taxco displayed signs in their windows that read, “Visite Spratling”1.
Vio took us to the workshop with its oversized tools. She showed us how silver wire was pulled through holes in pieces of metal graduating smaller and smaller with each run. She showed us molds that could be pressed into any shape to pour the silver into forms created by them. Weights were cast to the edges of the press handle to create more force as the press was turned.
One of the most hauntingly beautiful rooms on the property was the showroom, which was originally a museum. Spratling built extra thick walls with chimneys placed regularly along their length to bring in light from the outside. His background in architecture was evident in the way he illuminated each of the spaces. Even today, it gave them an eerie glow as if we were looking into a dream.
It was later turned into the sales room, where he would bring visitors to sell them gold, silver, or archaeological pieces, depending on what he thought they could afford. Marilyn Monroe visited in 1962 while she was looking for furniture to fill her spanish-style house in Brentwood. She ordered a duplicate of Spratling’s round dining table, as well as 50 chairs, but she died before they could be delivered. You’ll find them divided between Rancho Spratling and Casa Spratling.
Vio recalled memories of playing in the showroom as a child. In particular she wondered about how the oversized woman who handled the money could fit inside the tiny room at the end. What really mattered though is that there was always enough room for her to reach back and grab Vio a piece of candy.
Spratling was the classic eccentric. In addition to surrounding himself with artists, he was a collector of art and animals. The property is adorned, even littered in some places, with large stone carvings that were gathered from native ruins throughout south and central America.
As we examined the different indigenous pieces of art, we stumbled across a treehouse that was built above the river that runs through the property. None of us was brave enough to cross the 80 year old bamboo bridge that spanned from the shore so we continued on to visit the zoo.
Spratling collected animals as well, having as many as 23 Great Dane dogs, several Siamese cats, an ocelot, a pair of otters, four parrots, and a crocodile. He taught his first parrot to pull a wire that would ring a bronze bell to signal the opening and closing of the silver workshop, adding yet another apprentice to his business. At least this one would not surpass him, though it did outlive him.
Like a child who wants a pet to fill its immediate desires, Spratling hadn’t considered that, with the long lifespan that some of these animals have, they would long outlive him. In fact, just across the path from the swimming pool, is a pond with a lonely crocodile standing watch. Fortunately, Vio employs a caretaker for the property who continues to take care of the remaining animals.
Just past the crocodile pond is a tree with an airplane wing hanging from its boughs. Vio had put it there and later confirmed that it was from the plane that Spratling crashed into a nearby mountainside in 1964. He survived the incident but was left stranded at 12,000 ft and had to walk 20 miles to the closest village.
Vio has had her own share of struggles as she’s tried to revive the ranch over the years. She’s sponsored workshops to teach silversmithing and even opened an AirBnB at the property before Covid shut it down. As opposed to Spratling, her success has been in running the house in Taxco and not the ranch.
We wrapped up our tour, but before we returned home, she drove across the street to pick up some lotions and mosquito repellent to put in the rooms at the AirBnB. Her neighbor in Taxco Viejo makes natural based products on his ranch; just another artisan from this tiny part of Mexico with a big history.
Next week, we’ll visit another local artisan, Ernestina, whose family planted a coffee ranch outside of Taxco. We learn that there are many more steps than we realized to making coffee, including the infinite number of steps back up to the house from the steep hillside plantation.
1 I want to acknowledge an invaluable book in learning some of the history of the William Spratling: Silver Gringo, by Joan Mark