Talk about eclectic: the second home of doctors Kevin Slotten and Ross Murphy is an international feast of architectural flavors. The two family practice physicians are world travelers, and they share a special fondness for Bali, Africa, and the Caribbean. So when they sat down with Santa Fe architects Laura Van Amburgh and Antonio Parés to discuss what could have been a spicy Southwestern adobe, they ended up instead with their own personal version of residential comfort cuisine.

The unique retreat sits lightly on a rise in San Pedro Creek Estates, a secluded enclave of luxury homes off North Highway 14, in that ambiguously circumscribed area people from Albuquerque call the East Mountains. The quiet development was carved from the 31,000 acres still known as the Campbell family ranch. Slotten and Murphy’s topographically quirky 13-acre parcel is classic grazing land.

From a distance the stucco, wood, glass, and metal structure defies classification, although it’s undeniably modern and somewhat minimalist. Surprising juxtapositions of materials (Is that really a steel I-beam supporting traditional New Mexican latillas?) and a ’50s sort of roof immediately tag this house as unique. “People have called it ‘the Malibu house,’” Murphy confesses with a hint of chagrin. “We think of it as organic.”

 

 

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