The Kahlo family opens the new Casa Kahlo Museo in Mexico City this weekend
26 September 2025
In Coyoacán's historic center, the Casa Kahlo Museum is a distinct location with an entwined past, despite being very close to the famous Casa Azul. After giving Frida Kahlo the Casa Azul, where she was raised and lived with Diego Rivera, as a wedding present, her parents purchased this home.
Fans of Frida Kahlo will recognize features like a traditional kitchen and garden in the Kahlo House, but what really makes it valuable is the fresh insight it offers into her life. Her close-knit family, including her sister and caregiver, Cristina, and her father, Guillermo, a photographer, are intimately revealed.
According to museum director Adán García, "You can find a more humane approach to her story, to her origins." Visitors will discover that the great artist was a young girl who "struggled with polio and who was fond of her father and her mother."
Frida's family occupied the house until 2023. The house was then converted from a residence into a museum with the help of publicist Rick Miramontez, chairman of the recently established Fundación Kahlo in New York, and financial support from father-and-son businessmen Victor Aboumrad Tame and Victor Aboumrad Chedraui of Mexico. Miramontez contacted David Rockwell of the Rockwell Group, who credits his early high school years in Guadalajara with influencing his architectural career. Rockwell worked with the family and contributed to the museum's design..
The only known murals by Kahlo are on display at this new museum, which was exclusively toured by the Associated Press. Click here to see the video.
The basement
“When she fought with Diego, she would come here to the basement for refuge," said Frida Kahlo’s great-niece, Mara Romeo Kahlo. “It was like her place of peace; this was her home.”
A unique collection can also be found in the basement, which includes Asian dolls that Frida bought while visiting San Francisco and votive offerings that she painted.
The kitchen
Romeo Kahlo recalls eating breakfast in the kitchen, which was decorated with murals of fruit trees and flowers. Frida drew inspiration for the murals from the plants in the home's garden. Ironically, the murals were preserved because they were painted over during a kitchen renovation. They are now able to be seen in all their glory after receiving special treatment.
The darkroom
Visitors can enter Frida's father's photography studio, where an interactive camera takes virtual black-and-white images to show how they are developed on paper. In addition, the museum tells the story of Guillermo Kahlo's journey from his native Germany to Mexico and features images of him as a child.
In addition, the new museum emphasizes Frida's relationship with her mother, who has traditionally been marginalized by her father, and with her younger sister Cristina. “She used to talk about her like she was the other half of her heart,” García said.
Other info at this link.
The museum is located at Aguayo 54, in the Carmen neighborhood of Coyoacán.
Logistics and tickets at the Museum website below.
