Who says a New Mexico residence has to look like a Southwest flavored, Santa Fe-style, seen-one-seen-’em-all home? What about your collection of English Staffordshire ceramic dogs? Or your grandfather’s zebra skin rug, or the fact that too much leather drowns out your inner feminine side? For homeowners and interior designers in northern New Mexico, the answers evolving from these frequently faced questions are as diverse and inspiring as the personalities involved. Pam Duncan, Paul Davies, and Steffany Hollingsworth, three designers with Wiseman & Gale & Duncan Interiors of Santa Fe, approached the challenge and each created distinct, and distinctly beautiful, results.

Pam Duncan
There’s a conversation going on between the interior of Pam and Donn Duncan’s home and the outdoors, and, as a designer, Duncan doesn’t want to interrupt. “The house has plentiful light and airiness, which are important to me, though I do feel the need to be nestled into a space—hence, the way the house is nestled into the hillside and enveloped by the surrounding bowl and greenery,” explains Duncan, the owner of Wiseman & Gale & Duncan Interiors.

While a small ridge to the west embraces the home, to the east all windows frame a classic view of piñon-covered foothills and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains beyond. The view exerts its presence with particular force via soaring windows in the living room, so Duncan chose fabrics in pale olive greens that lead the eye outdoors. The visual flow is also enhanced by the open-carved back of an antique Spanish bench on one side of the room and light cane-back armchairs on the other. An upholstered bench beneath the east window offers additional low-profile seating.

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