They met and married in their native Germany and each worked to earn the ability to buy a home there and raise their family – Werner, as an electrical engineer; Karin, as a teacher. Eventually, Werner was transferred to work in the United States where they made their home in Pittsburg.

Guadalajara was not only too large for their tastes, but was beginning to experience serious air pollution. They found that city's nearby community of Ajijic and its famed Lake Chapala disappointing in two respects: first, the lake's waters were being depleted by local farming and residential needs and, second, they guessed that the overwhelming presence of ex-pats in the area would be somewhat stifling to any ability to assimilate authentically into Mexican culture.

That sense also prevailed in San Miguel de Allende even though the physical feel of the latter was far more Mexicana than what they had experienced in Ajijic. Werner was as charmed as Karin by Cuernevaca and its abundance of flowers, and Queretero met all the requirements they were looking for. But it was in Morelia that the two found just the right combination of excellent climate and desirable other amenities (nearby airport, lively cultural life, modern health care facilities, and relatively affordable home sites).

Once they decided upon Morelia, they inquired about a realtor and were introduced to a local architect who began showing them properties. High on their list of priorities was having an excellent view of the historic 16th century city.They returned to their U.S. home unsuccessful in having located anything promising. 

Werner noticed that the original architect with whom the Duckmans had contracted shared a first name with the man the Krondorfers had been working with in Morelia. Werner contacted Hank and discovered the architect/realtor was one and the same. Werner thanks the internet for saving them from suffering a repetition of some of the same problems the Duckmans described at the hands of that supposed expert. On their next trip to Morelia they met with the Duckman's second architect, Jesus Palafox, and things moved rapidly and smoothly along thereafter.

Karin and Werner settled on an existing property that would meet the best realtor's location, location, location criteria, but at the same time presented Sr. Palafox plenty of redesign challenges. The home had stood empty for a few years and it had been vandalized and had suffered some weather damage.  Werner estimates that the purchase price of approximately $120,000 (U.S.) was essentially what he would have paid for the land - without the house - in that same neighborhood.

Just as the renovation work was commencing, Werner's company in Pennsylvania assigned him a year-long consulting job in Mexico City. During that time, he and Karin made the eight hour round trip drive between the two cities twice monthly to track progress on the renovations.

By the time the consulting job was wrapping up, the home was also finished and the Krondorfers retired to life-after-work in Morelia.