Roma Norte is, above all, a neighborhood of houses with history. Along its tree-lined streets, residences from the late 19th and early 20th centuries have survived — not by staying frozen in time, but by becoming spaces that now welcome visitors instead of families. NIMA Local House is one of them: a house built in the late 19th century, still standing today because of a restoration built to preserve what made it special, not erase it.
NIMA is, first and foremost, a boutique hotel in a restored historic house in Roma Norte, and that distinction isn't just marketing — it's the whole premise behind how the restoration was approached. The goal was never to erase the past to make room for something new. Original elements live alongside contemporary design: nothing excessive, just considered choices that favor comfort and quiet elegance. It's a restoration built on the idea that a house like this doesn't gain value by pretending to be new — it gains value by honestly showing the time it has lived through. Learn more about the house's history here.
Walking through NIMA, it's easy to notice where the original ends and the new begins, without either one taking away from the other: a tall ceiling that shows its age, a contemporary piece of furniture that doesn't compete with it, and light that never calls attention to itself. It's the kind of coexistence that's easier to feel than to describe.
NIMA's restoration was led by José G. De la Lama, remembered today as part of the hotel's living history — his name also belongs to one of the four rooms in the house. It says something about how NIMA understands its own heritage: preservation here isn't only about what the house's original residents built — people like Guillermo Tovar de Teresa, whose story we tell in more detail in our blog post on El Grito de Independencia. It's also about honoring the people who brought the house back to life.
Roma Norte has a particular relationship with its own past: many of its early-20th-century residences have been restored in recent years rather than torn down, and today serve as boutique hotels, galleries, or cultural spaces. NIMA is part of that larger conversation about how a neighborhood decides what to keep of itself — and how. Preserving something doesn't always mean leaving it untouched; sometimes it means carefully deciding what's worth keeping. For anyone choosing to stay at a boutique hotel in a historic house like this one, that decision becomes part of the experience too — it's not just about where you stay, it's about which story you choose to live inside for a few days.
What year was the house that's now NIMA built?
The house dates to the late 19th century. We don't have an exact construction date on hand — if you'd like the precise detail, we recommend asking the hotel team directly during your stay.
Who led the restoration?
José G. De la Lama, whose name also honors one of the house's four rooms.
Were original elements of the building preserved?
Yes. The restoration aimed to let original elements live alongside contemporary design, without either one overriding the other. The best way to see it is in person, during a stay.
Is modern comfort compatible with staying in a historic house?
Yes. The restoration was designed with today's guest in mind: respecting the original architecture doesn't mean giving up modern comforts — it just means the two coexist carefully, without either one taking away from the other.
Can you learn about the house's history without staying there?
If you're interested in NIMA's history without booking a room, we recommend writing directly to the hotel team to ask about available tours or visits.
Why preserve a house like this instead of building a new hotel?
Because there's something a new building can't offer: the real weight of time. A carefully restored house doesn't imitate history — it has it.
The best way to understand a house's history is to stay in it. Book your stay at NIMA Local House and see for yourself how more than a century of history coexists with today's comfort.
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