Home builder Steve Nakamura is not one for hiding outdoor living spaces discreetly in the back yard. Not when the front lawn of his most recent home faces the Rio Grande bosque and the western face of the Sandia Mountains.

Guests arriving at this residence disembark with their senses already heightened by the pleasing country drive along Corrales Road, just north of Albuquerque. Nonetheless, they’re rarely prepared for the surprise that awaits at the end of Stevie Ray’s Way (named after Nakamura’s son). There, grassy yard, large pond, guest casita, home, and outdoor amenities ranging from a barbecue station to a fire pit blend into an effortless whole. They’re linked by meandering walkways and a curved portal that stretches 100 feet across the front of Nakamura’s hacienda-style home. “It’s that view of the mountains,” says the Corrales-based owner of Rachel Matthew Homes. “That’s why we did it this way.”

Although the views of mountains and bosque were appealing, the lot itself was less than ideal when Nakamura started putting project to paper last year. “We hauled out 87 semi-truckloads of trash before we could get started,” he recalls. “There were two junk houses on the property. Things were pretty trashed.”