Diego Rivera Mural at Exekatlkalli

Exekatlkalli is described on the house's plaque as the Nahuatl name of the house, rendered in English as House of the Winds. It belonged to the art collector Dolores Olmedo. One account says the house was built in 1943 and acquired by Olmedo in 1948, when she had a studio built there for Rivera. Wikipedia's Acapulco article says Olmedo and Rivera had been friends since her childhood and that Rivera spent the last two years of his life at the house, painting almost nonstop. Rivera died in 1957.

Tourism sources describe the work as a colourful high-relief mosaic on the outer wall facing the entrance gate, made of small pieces of stone, tile and shell. Most sources date it to 1956, while Lonely Planet and a Wikimedia Commons description give 1956 to 1957. Lonely Planet says Rivera worked on five murals here, of which two fringe the villa entrance and can be seen from outside.

The central figures are two mythological serpents, one of them Quetzalcoatl. Other figures include Tlaloc, the Aztec god of rain, a Xoloitzcuintle, the pre-Hispanic hairless dog, and a frog that one source links to Olmedo's pet name for Rivera. A hammer and sickle also appears, which the same source reads as a reference to Rivera's communist convictions. The Acapulco article notes that the interior is covered in murals, but the house is not a museum, so only the exterior work is open to public view.

Rivera is best known for his large murals in Mexico City, and he drew on pre-Hispanic imagery and mosaic throughout his career. At Exekatlkalli he applied that interest to a private house on the Pacific coast, using materials that suit the sun and sea air of Acapulco.

The federal culture ministry reports that in 2013 the ministry and the foundation of businessman Carlos Slim acquired the property to preserve the murals and adapt the space as a cultural centre, the Centro Cultural La Casa de los Vientos. Later reports describe a federal reconstruction programme allotting about 1.8 million pesos for restoration, an 18-week schedule for structural works followed by mural restoration, and a first preventive stage that began in 2021. No report of completion was found, so the current condition of the murals is unconfirmed.

Because access conditions at a protected cultural site can change, a private guided visit is a practical way to check what can be seen from the street and to pair it with other cultural sights in Acapulco, such as the Fort of San Diego, which houses the Acapulco Historical Museum.