After a lifetime of living in and adapting to homes built by someone else, my mother, Betty, at age 71, began contemplating building a home of her own design. At first the choices were overwhelming. But gradually she began to really enjoy the process of answering the question, “What do I want?”

Foremost on her list of requirements was accessibility. My father’s mobility had decreased over the years, and soon he would need a wheelchair to get around. She wanted to create a space that he would be free to move about, indoors and out.

The project was a summer home in the foothills of the Gila National Forest in southern New Mexico, on a hillside lot next door to my home and business, the Black Range Lodge. The cool mountain climate would be a seasonal respite from their retirement home in central Arizona.