A Mayan-Inspired Beachfront Villa in Mexico

$3.75 MILLION (74 MILLION MEXICAN PESOS)

This five-bedroom, four-and-a-half bath villa sits on a verdant strip of land inside the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, a protected area in the municipality of Tulum, on the east coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Elevated on pillars atop a sand dune, the beachfront home overlooks the Caribbean Sea on one side and a large lagoon and mangrove forest on the other.

The 1.5-acre property is about three miles from the entrance of Sian Ka’an, along an unpaved road marked by a Mayan arch. There are no power lines in the 1.3 million-acre reserve; instead, the house is powered by solar and wind, and has a backup generator, said Sara Plaga, a luxury property specialist with Riviera Maya Sotheby’s International Realty, which has the listing. All homes there must be built from natural materials, and there are restrictions on what residents and visitors may bring in to the area, including certain pets.

Built in 2005, the 3,282-square-foot, cement house was inspired by Mayan architecture, with a traditional palapa roof with two peaks rising above the tree line. Palapa roofs, made from dried palm leaves, are effective for keeping interiors cool, and this one was built with wind vents to make it storm resistant, Ms. Plaga said.

“Every year, you have these amazing guys with the knowledge of how to build these roofs come and maintain it, so there’s no water leakage and there’s no sun passing through,” she said.