Santa Fe is a city made of mud. Locals are proud of this—so proud that they build million-dollar mud homes, preferably on picturesque, unpaved streets. Even inexpensive houses are covered in stucco so they look like mud. The reason for this adoration? The magical mix of dirt and water is the essential ingredient in adobe, the city’s historic building material, used by ancient Pueblo Indians and 17th-century Spanish colonists. It is adobe that gives the city its unique profile—low and brown, curving along the hills, and almost indistinguishable from the earth.

Adobe defies perfection. That’s part of what Santa Feans love about it. It’s a quirky building material, lending itself to un-plumb walls and un-square corners. So, when it comes to rejuvenating the town’s historic adobe buildings, it takes a special person—not just a craftsman, but someone who understands the town’s personality. Lloyd Martinez of Sage Builders, winner of the first ever Su Casita award given by Su Casa for the recent transformation of an old carriage house into a new home, is just such a guy.

Martinez’ roots run so deep in Santa Fe that he grew up on a street that bears his family name. As a boy, he wandered the city’s oldest neighborhoods and admired the homes he saw. But building was an accidental occupation. “I built my first house for myself,” he recalls. “A friend who was a realtor came over to visit and fell in love with it. He asked if I wanted to sell it, and I said no. But when he told me how much he could sell it for, I said yes.” The house sold almost immediately, and he went on to build another. The second house won an award for new construction, and Martinez’ career path was clear. Ten years ago, he formed Sage Builders with his partner, Orville Johnson.

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