One of the more popular architectural features in Santo Tomas is the brick cupola (dome). These domes are built by specialists from Guadalajara, Mexico. The domes are self supporting and do not contain any rebar. Each brick presses downwards and outwards against the bricks below. The bottom of the dome is supported by a concrete steel reinforced collar. The bricks (ladrillo pichuela) are a lightweight, clay brick that is fired in an open bonfire which allows the flames of the fire to pass across the surface of the brick and give it a varied color and texture. In Santo Tomás, all brick cupolas are insulated with Styrofoam in order to provide the same level of insulation as the rest of the roof. In March, brick cupolas were constructed on the second story condo building, the lot 22 stairway tower and the two Aguila models, lots 45 and 46.

A new home was started on lot 57 of the Las Dunas subdivision. This home is two stories high. The lower story consists of a studio bedroom on the lower floor with a covered patio area, a laundry room and a 6 car garage. The top floor has a combined kitchen, dining room, living room and two bedrooms and two and one-half baths.

An 8 yard capacity cement truck has been imported and delivered to Santo Tomás and it is now operational. This cement truck and the associated loading hoppers greatly increase our concrete pouring capacity. They also improve the overall concrete quality by allowing us to make monolithic pours and do a more thorough mixing of the concrete components.

The lot 55 home was completed and turned over to its owners. This home has an area of 1,613 square feet with three bedrooms and two baths. The kitchen, dining room and living room are a single combined room. The home is the first to be built on Caracoles street and sits on a cul-de-sac lot at the very north edge of Las Dunas. The home also has a lower level, two car garage with a patio terrace.

Construction started on the first Aguila model home, the “Mesquite, model 1570” on Las Dunas lot 45. The home features three bedrooms, two baths, a combined kitchen /dining room / great room, a street-side covered patio, a two car garage and a large roof-top terrace. The great room will have the optional brick dome. The Aguila Mesquite sells for $171,864 with a one-car garage, lot included.

As the number of Santo Tomás full-time residents and part-time visitors increases, so does the amount of trash and other waste that needs to be processed. In September, a trash incineration program was started. As trash is collected from the Las Dunas subdivision, it is sorted into glass, aluminum, ferrous metal and combustible categories. Glass is crushed for landfill burial. Ferrous metals and aluminum are stored for recycling. Combustibles are burned in a forced-air incinerator. These procedures reduce trash volume by over 99% and preserve our environment for future generations.

A new and important piece of machinery, a Liftall 4WD forklift was delivered to Santo Tomás in August 2007. This forklift has an extending 30 foot boom and can lift 8,000 pounds with the boom fully extended. It weighs 25,000 pounds and is powered by a John Deere diesel engine. It is extremely maneuverable and all four wheels can be steered. It is used to lift building materials onto to upper floors, to hoist a one-yard cement bucket for roof-top pours and to unload building materials as they are delivered to Santo Tomás.

Construction started on lot 86, a beach front lot in Las Dunas. The home is two stories high with an area of 3,156 square feet. There are 4 bedrooms and 4 and 1/2 baths. The home features a large kitchen-great room, a roof top terrace and fireplace, a beach side outside bar and a two over-size one car garages.

Construction was started on Lot 22, a second tier lot located at 1046 Estrella del Mar. The home is two stories high on the west side towards the street and three stories high on the inland side. It has an area of 2,976 square feet with 3,860 square feet under roof. It has a turret stairway, 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths and an oversize one-car garage. The roof terrace is accessed by a cantilevered accordion stairway that circles the stairway turret.

The first section of retaining walls was poured for the Estrella Las Dunas condo building.

Doctor arrives. The clinic in the ejido Alvaro Obregon received its first doctor, Erika Ceballos Cabrera. Doctor Ceballos studied at the University of Baja California and will work for a one year term. The clinic is equipped for emergencies as well as standard medical examinations and treatments. Doctor Ceballos will even make house calls. The doctor is currently working on government certification of the facility which will ensure continued funding by the State of Sonora and provide funding for a nurse to assist the doctor.

The home on lot 42 was completed and turned over to its owners. Total construction time for this one story home was 11 months. Visitors to Santo Tomás are invited to check out the extensive mosaics in the exterior of the home including a large parrot, a gecko and two jumping sail fish. The owners plan to offer the home for rent immediately.

Excavation and forming begun for the first Estrella Las Dunas condo building.

Road improvement- A long term road improvement project was begun utilizing a towable road grader and salt water treatment. Over the next 12 months, the entire length of unpaved road from ejido Alvaro Obregon to Las Dunas will be graded and augmented with salt water and clay, gravel and sand road base materials. This will provide a hard and permanent surface with much less dust. Visitors to the beach club area will note the PVC piping system that is used to extract seawater for this project.

The home on beach lot 87 was turned over to its owners. The two story home was completed within 13 months from start of contstruction.

The paved road leading to the village Alvaro Obregon was completely resurfaced. Previously this pavement was very rough and uneven. The road crew also did a complete regrading of the gravel road from the village to Santo Tomas.

Construction was started on lot 55, the first construction on Caracoles street. This three bedroom, 1,613 ft2 home is located on a large cul-de-sac lot and is designed to allow for future expansion and later construction of an attached garage.

Construction completed of the medical clinic in the nearby village of Alvaro Obregon.

Construction on lot 42, a three bedroom, 1,503 square ft. home was begun. This home features an efficient layout, large patio and roof terraces and five decorative mosaics.

The five level beach home on lot 13 was completed. This home features seven bedrooms, three different roof terraces and is terraced down below road level. The home has two single car garages and is 5,469 sq. ft.

Construction was begun on two lots this month. Lot 67 is a two bedroom, 1,284 ft2 home that has an upstairs covered patio and master bedroom with great views of both the ocean and the desert.

Lot 87 is a beach front home with three bedrooms, 2,525 ft2 and a two car garage. It has a main level and a lower beach level, taking advantage of the slope of the dunes in this area.

Lot 5. This 4 bedroom, 2,541 ft2 beach front home that includes a one car garage, a large central great room and a stairway down to the beach was occupied by its new owners who also intend to place it on the rental market.

The guest house located on beach lot 90 which features two bedrooms, 852 ft2, palapa roofs and sits above a three car garage was completed. The owners are now working on the design of their main home which will be located to the north west of the completed guest house.

On Monday , December 9, 2002, Mexican President Vicente Fox made an historic visit to Caborca, Sonora, Mexico and announced by Presidential Decree that the entire municipality of Caborca would be made part of the Free Trade Zone. The Presidential Decree went into effect as of January 1, 2003.

The implications of this announcement for Santo Tomás are tremendous. The extension of the Free Trade Zone to include Santo Tomas has increased demand for the only fully approved large beach development project within the Municipality of Caborca.

Another benefit is the reduction of IVA (Value Added Tax) from 15% to 10% thereby reducing the taxes paid on new construction materials by 5%.

The most noticeable effect of the Free Trade Zone move for Santo Tomás has been the elimination of the need for car permits and tourist visas when entering Mexico through Lukeville/Sonoyta. This means that for US citizens using the Lukeville/Sonoyta border crossing, traveling to Santo Tomás is just as easy as traveling to Puerto Peñasco (Rocky Point).

• Weekly rental rates for the house on Lot 40 are now discounted.   Instead of $1,200 per week the rate will now be $1,050.   A savings of $150, this gives you one weeknight free. 

• The house on Lot 88 has been completed and is available for rent beginning in December of 2002.  The Vacation Rental portion of this website has been expanded to include this lovely beach front home.   Rates start at $175.00  per night.  Weekly rates for this house are also discounted.  Instead of $1500 per week the rate is $1,325.  A savings of $175.