Cozumel presents an elderly couple with first sargassum home

Longtime Islanders from Cozumel now have a new house. The home is the first sargassum building in Cozumel and was built with sargablocks. A long-time elderly couple received the modest house over the weekend.

Beginning in mid-2022, volunteer laborers built the house, which they did in just under nine months. This is the first sargassum-based brick-built home on the island. A senior couple who live alone and were in need of housing received the new house as a gift.

Volunteers who donated their time and resources constructed the sargassum home in the Emiliano Zapata neighborhood. It was constructed on the same plot where the couple’s previous home stood.

The building required 2,250 seaweed-based blocks. Every single piece of furniture, accessory, door, glass, paint, and brick was a gift. Funds were raised through bake sales.

Due to their resistance to hurricanes and tropical storms, the bricks, which are made from about 20 tons of locally washed-up sargassum, will last for about 120 years.

95-year-old Doña Lorenza and her 75-year-old husband Don Armando were the fortunate recipients of the 6 x 8-meter house.