San Isidro

About San Isidro:

San Isidro covers 14.4 square kilometres of hill country west of central Atenas. Its villages run from Morazán and Bajo Cacao, down by the Río Cacao, through the centre around the salón comunal and the coffee beneficio, and up to Pavas, El Plancillo, Rincón and Altos de Naranjo on the high ground. Buses leave the Atenas terminal for Altos de Naranjo and Pavas from early morning into the evening on weekdays and reach the salón comunal in about fifteen minutes; Saturdays have fewer runs and Sundays only a handful. At the bottom of the district the Bajo Cacao bridge carries the Atenas–Palmares road, and a back road over La Chola heads for Santiago de Palmares, though slides have closed it after heavy rain. Atenas itself puts you on Ruta 27, the toll road between San José and the port of Caldera.

Coffee shaped the place. The Beneficio San Isidro is the landmark people give directions from, and coffee still grows on the slopes between the houses. Around Pavas, small farms grow beans as well. Escuela San Isidro has been teaching the village’s children officially since 1906, and Morazán has its own school. Restaurante Vista del Valle, 300 metres from the beneficio, is where families go for Sunday lunch with a view, while banking, supermarkets and most errands mean a trip down to Atenas, where Coopeatenas, the coffee cooperative that employs more people than anyone else in the canton, faces the main road.

The ground is all slope, and that matters more here than in most of the canton. On 11 October 2007, in a torrential downpour, a gabion wall holding up the road above Bajo Cacao gave way and the slide buried six houses, killing 14 people. Two years later a study by the University of Costa Rica’s geology school for the national emergency commission (CNE) compared the river canyon with Cinchona, and families in the most exposed stretch were ordered to relocate. Higher up, on the ridges, the same slopes give San Isidro the long views over the Atenas valley that bring most outside buyers here.

The district has grown slowly and steadily, from 487 people in 1892 to 2,813 at the 2011 census, and families who have worked this land for generations still make up most of it. The reputation of Atenas for its climate, which made the canton a favourite with retirees, reaches up here too, but the newcomers who settle in San Isidro usually want land and a view more than a short walk to the park. Some have bought into small gated communities off Calle Zacatal, where homes share one entrance and a private well. Others look for larger properties that still carry coffee or pasture.

Houses in San Isidro:

The typical house here is single-storey, with three or four bedrooms and 200 to 250 square metres of construction, on a plot of 2,000 to 4,500 square metres with a garden and fruit trees. Some back onto the Río Cacao, with a vegetable patch running down toward the water. At the top end are newer view homes in gated communities, with pools, solar panels and a guest apartment with its own entrance, a layout that suits visiting family or a caretaker. Compact houses on small lots do exist near the centre, but they are few. If you are browsing homes for sale in San Isidro de Atenas, expect the land to be a large part of what you pay for.

Farms and Fincas in San Isidro:

Properties of three to six hectares are part of this market: coffee fincas with a main house, land with a waterfall and its own well, and multi-home properties on the Morazán side with panoramic views. A few have become estates with pools and landscaped grounds while keeping a plot of coffee. On these properties water comes first. Ask whether the well or spring has a concession from MINAE, and whether the coffee is still being picked and sold or has simply been left to grow.

Land and Lots in San Isidro:

Lots here are rarely small. Most building plots run from about 2,000 to 3,000 square metres, many on private lanes or inside a gated project, sized for a house with garden and room to spare. Slope decides almost everything: what you spend on retaining walls, where the septic tank can go and how the driveway reaches the house. Costa Rica’s Forestry Law also protects a strip along rivers and streams, wider on steep ground, so a plot that “reaches the river” loses part of its buildable area. Before you commit to land for sale in Atenas on this side of the canton, walk the plot after a heavy rain.

Rentals in San Isidro:

Most homes in San Isidro are lived in by their owners, so the rental market is small. What does turn up is mostly whole houses on long leases, some inside the gated communities off Calle Zacatal, along with guest apartments on larger properties that owners let on their own. Without a car you depend on the Altos de Naranjo bus. A few months as a tenant is a good way to learn which half of the district, the river or the ridges, suits you before you buy.

FAQ:

• Listings just say “San Isidro”. How do I know it is this one?

  Check the canton. Neighbouring San Ramón and Grecia each have a district called San Isidro, so does the canton of Alajuela, and San Isidro de Heredia is a whole canton of its own. San Isidro de Atenas uses postal code 20504, and the survey plan (plano catastrado) states province, canton and district, so confirm the property is in Atenas before you book a visit.

• How long does it take to get from San Isidro to Atenas?

  The bus from the Atenas terminal reaches the salón comunal in about fifteen minutes before carrying on to Altos de Naranjo or Pavas. On weekdays the first buses into town leave in the early morning and the last ones back run into the evening, while Sunday service is thin. By car it is a short trip, and once in Atenas you are on Ruta 27 for San José or the Pacific coast.

• Is land near the Río Cacao safe to build on?

  Go carefully. After the 2007 landslide the CNE flagged the Bajo Cacao canyon as a risk area, so before buying low on the slopes ask the Municipalidad de Atenas for a land-use certificate (uso de suelo) and find out whether the plot falls inside the flagged zone. Look for cracks in nearby walls and roads, and pay for a geotechnical study if you plan to build. Then confirm at the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario) that the title is free of liens and that the registered survey plan matches what you see on the ground.

• Where does the water come from?

  It depends on the property. Ask whether the house is connected to the local water system or relies on a well; in some of the district’s gated communities the owners share a private well and split its costs. Get a written water availability letter, or the well’s concession and the rules for sharing it, before you sign, and on a finca ask the same about any springs.

• Can foreigners buy in San Isidro?

  Yes, and on equal terms with Costa Ricans: you need no residency to hold title to a house, lot or finca here. The maritime-zone limits apply only along the coast. A notary prepares the deed and files it for registration.