character counts
Remodeling with respect for the neighborhood and traditional design transforms a rundown adobe with ’70s detailing into an authentic Santa Fe charmer.
The homeowners and architect Gayla Bechtol redesigned the front portal to curve around the house, while a short adobe wall with a gate brought privacy to the yard.
Snug, cozy rooms with a rustic, hand-built adobe atmosphere define the interior. After stripping plaster off the wall, the homeowners discovered a massive stone fireplace.
The walls wear a rich coat of American Clay natural plaster.
In the kitchen, a vintage rotary phone—oh, that’s why we say “dial” the number!—carries on the nostalgic theme established by wall radiators. Old vigas emerged when workers stripped away the dropped ceiling.
The guest bedroom (shown here) and master bedroom share fieldstone masonry accents and the soft light of new skylights, though ceiling treatments vary from room to room.
The master bedroom features masonry accents and new skylights.
The architect and owners enhanced this home's original adobe charm while maintaining the neighborhood aesthetic.
The remodel added regional architectural charm to the home's original kitchen.
The original front portal shown here was redesigned and extended, while an adobe courtyard wall added privacy to the space.
This article first appeared in Spring 2008 Su Casa
Santa Fe, its detractors charge, has become too cosmopolitan, too upscale—its humble brown hills covered with faux adobe mansions, its sweet country charm forever lost. But the 400-year-old city keeps a few secrets, and one is this: only blocks from gleaming art galleries and luxurious spas, along narrow dirt roads where low walls hug the contours of the land, snug, small homes have sheltered generations of the same families. Neighbors are friends, birdsong is the loudest noise, and the bustle of city life seems about a century away.
At the heart of these neighborhoods are Hispanic families, some descended from the city’s original settlers. Their bonds are strong, their love of their heritage even stronger. Such a setting might seem an unlikely place to find a couple of newcomers from Maine, but Ed Hobler and Dave Garrity have managed to fit right in.
Ed and Dave, who have been together nearly 30 years, came to Santa Fe seeking a possible place to retire and some much-needed respite from New England’s fierce winters. “Maine winters are just too long,” says Ed. “There may only be 10 degrees between the low at night and the high during the day, so after a while, you’re just living in your long johns. It’s too hard to get out and do things.”
“I had been to Santa Fe in the ’70s and fell in love with it,” adds Dave.
“We’ve traveled a lot, and I’ve only found a few places I’d like to live. This is one.”
Santa Fe is a mecca for second home buyers. Choices abound—from glossy condos to golf course palaces to the rare historic gem in the city’s glitzy art district. But Ed and Dave have a different perspective. “We don’t like huge houses,” Dave says. “We like real,” Ed finishes. They have been in the construction business for decades, first rehabbing expensive apartments in New York City and later owning and renovating historic buildings in Portland, Maine. Dedicated preservationists, they homed in on Santa Fe’s authentic character.
Dave, an ace at Internet searches, studied real estate listings for months before finding what seemed like the ideal house. It was small and dark with a leaking roof, rooms full of kitschy art, and beaded curtains. “We thought it was perfect,” Dave says. But despite being on a dirt road in an area that still feels rural, proximity to town made the house quite expensive. So, they kept looking. But after a couple of near deals and some recovery from Santa Fe sticker shock, they went back. “It was just what we wanted, and we liked this neighborhood because of its authenticity,” says Dave.
“The house needed TLC . . . and dynamite,” he says. Two of the adobe rooms dated from 1891, but others had been added chock-a-block from the 1920s through the ’70s, using various materials and incorporating stone floors and low walls that once defined an outdoor patio. The roof needed to be completely replaced, and some of the old vigas were too small to provide adequate support. Tree roots had invaded a wall and threatened the stability of one end of the house. It was a mess, but Dave and Ed saw its potential.
Before they could do anything, they had to face Santa Fe’s Historic Design Review Board, which governs changes to all buildings in the city’s historic districts. “We’ve been active in Portland’s historic preservation organization for years and taught workshops on caring for old buildings,” Dave explains. “Ed served on the historic review board for 11 years and is now on the Board of Advisors of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. We know the rules.” But Santa Fe is a rule unto itself. Numerous hearings and many months passed before all their plans were approved.
They hired Gayla Bechtol, an experienced historic architect. “It was this ’70s funky house, but it had lovely character,” she recalls. “I’m very grateful that Ed and Dave were sensitive to what was there and had the knowledge and experience to make it work.” In fact, Ed and Dave appreciated something that others likely would not have. The house, while officially listed as “noncontributing” to the historic architecture of the area, did contribute greatly to the personality of the tightly knit neighborhood.
Dave and Ed, who are outgoing guys, got to know their neighbors. They considered the other houses, shared their plans, and listened to input. Their respect and openness won friends. Adobe architecture and northern New Mexican style were new to them, but they did their homework, poring through books and photographs. Deciding to carry on without a general contractor, they took over the job themselves and hired several of their neighbors as tradespeople.
Gayla encouraged them to focus on the outside of the house and how it would relate to their living space. There was no garage; previous owners had parked cars in the yard. Gayla and Dave redesigned the front portal to curve around the house, unifying its form and providing cover for the second entry. A short adobe wall with a gate enclosed the property but left room for a small parking area. Now the house was a private urban retreat with an inviting yard for grilling, entertaining, or basking in the hot tub.
The house concealed buried treasure. Dave loves stonework and was excited when a stone fireplace emerged from a tomb of plaster. Old vigas, which he hand-sanded so they would look as natural as possible, were found under a dropped ceiling in the kitchen. But they kept the interior of the house as close as possible to the original. “It dictated its own design and layout,” Ed says. “The trick is to get what you need without imposing something alien on it.” “And then you end up with something that is so much more,” Dave finishes.
Today the house is a cozy charmer. Instead of bland luxury, it proudly displays its quirky history, wonderfully reminiscent of the shabby adobes that were fixed up by Santa Fe’s famous characters—poets, artists, and rebellious children of prominent families—during the early 20th century. Dave and Ed built only a small addition that forms a gracious bathroom with curved walk-in shower and Moroccan tile they loved on a trip there. Throughout the rooms Gayla artfully placed skylights that banished the dark. “She calls them wall washers because instead of being right in the center, they are less obtrusive, and the light reflects off the wall into the room,” Dave explains.
Warmly lustrous American Clay covers the walls in colors that are true to the house’s origins. A rosy red bedroom, for example, recreates the exact shades that were found on original walls under layers of Sheetrock and plaster. Dave and Ed added antique mesquite windows and doors to create new cabinets and closets. A clever touch, one-of-a-kind radiators the men found in Maine keep the house toasty and add yet another reminder of Santa Fe life a hundred years ago.
When all was done, Ed and Dave threw a party so their neighbors, who had been patient during more than a year of construction, could see the result. Ed and Dave have helped light the annual Christmas Eve farolitos and been invited to neighbors’ homes for dinner. They and their house are knitted into the community fabric. The Historic Design Review Board even gave them a preservation award, the first of its kind for a noncontributing building.
“We started out modestly,” Dave says. “We’re kind of surprised at the reaction it gets.”
“Great clients make great projects,” as Gayla puts it.
Award-winning journalist Marsha McEuen is a freelance writer and editor based in her hometown, Santa Fe.
Resources
Unless otherwise noted, businesses below are in Santa Fe, the area code is 505, and the prefix for websites is www.
Architect: Gayla Bechtol, AIA, 988-3315, gayla@gbasantafe.com. Historic research, approvals & advice: Mary G. Ragins, Ragins Research & Planning, 995-0852, rrp@intergate.com. Cabinets: Bertch Legacy in Rustic Hickory, bertch.com; Kitchen Dimensions, 986-8820, kitdim.com. Countertops: honed and fabricated CaesarStone counters, Thunderbird Tile & Stone. Custom fire screens: Delgado’s Iron Works de Santa Fe, 471-6605. Door & hardware installation: John Breitinger Construction, 670-3939. Doors: wormy maple doors, Spanish Pueblo Doors, 473-0464, spdoors. com; custom pine closet doors, Grand River Supply, Bernalillo, NM, 867-4110, grandriversupply.com. Engineering: Hands Engineering, 473-7373, hands engineering.com. Finish carpentry: Crowell Construction, Lamy, NM, 470-4051. Flooring: MASTER BEDROOM Mannington hardwood flooring, Chesapeake Hickory Plank in Amber, mannington.com. Furnishings: Crate & Barrel, crateandbarrel.com;
El Paso Import Company, 982-5698, elpasoimportco. com; Jackalope, 471-8539, jackalope.com; Recollections, 988-4775; Rock N’ Bill’s Mercantile, Albuquerque, 255-0557. Guttering: custom continuous copper gutter and canales, Southwest Metal Products, 473-4575. Hardware: Hacienda Iron door locksets and closet doorknobs, Santa Fe Hardware, 995-0411, santafehardware.com. Heating & plumbing: Onstad Plumbing & Heating, 988-2344; additional plumbing by JL Plumbing, 471-1348. Heating & water treatment equipment: Prestige condensing boiler, Triangle Tube, triangletube.com; tankless water heater, model R85i, Rinnai America, rinnai.us; whole-home water filtration & conditioning unit,
Environmental Water Systems, ewswater.com; Santa Fe by Design, 988-4111, santafebydesign.com. Interior finishes: American Clay, Albuquerque, 866/404-1634, americanclay.com. Landscaping material: bluestone, Milestone, 989-1999, milestone nm.com. Masonry: Dewey Lowe, 466-0310; Bernie and Steven Roybal, 204-1850. Plaster & stucco: Transito Rodriguez Construction, 470-2899. Radiators: A-1 Antique Plumbing & Radiators, Somerville, MA, 617/625-6140, antiqueplumbing andradiators.com. Roofing & insulation: sprayed polyurethane foam, North Carolina Foam Industries; Mike Lopez Roofing, 982-8262, mikelopezroofing. com. Rugs: Addarug, A Division of NetChannel, Albuquerque, 890-1875, addarug.com; Jackalope, 471-8539, jackalope.com; Rugman, Buffalo, NY, 877/784-6261, rugman.com. Skylights: custom UV-block glass skylights, Santa Fe Custom Skylights, 438-0040. Spa construction & interior finish carpentry: Verde Design Group, 474-8686, verdedesigngroup.com. Stone fabrication: New Mexico Stone, 820-7625, newmexicostone.net. Stonemasons: Benavidez Brothers, 983-1592. Tile & design services: Stone & Tile Source, 982-5758. Tile setting: Gomez Tile, 438-6297. Water catchment: Rainharvest, 466-4117. Windows: custom cedar double-glazed windows and screens, Architectural Traditions, Tucson, AZ, 520/574-7374, architecturaltraditions.com; Pacific Mutual Door & Window, Albuquerque, 823-2505, pamudo.com; Authentic Southwest Windows & Doors, 474-5902, authenticsouthwest.com.