Inside Su Casa
style across the spectrum
Fine woodworking detail distinguishes this new downtown Albuquerque bungalow designed to look like an Arts and Crafts cottage from the early 20th century. Marie Enterprises/Homes by Marie built this neoclassic, which was designed by homeowner Ric Higginbotham in an iconic style found in most New Mexico towns that developed along the railroad.
Two houses in this issue show just how diverse homes can be while remaining fundamentally New Mexican. The lovely bungalow built by Betty Blea’s company Marie Enterprises/Homes by Marie (“New house with an old soul,” page 52) in downtown Albuquerque might at first seem light years away from the daring Santa Fe hilltop house by Wolf Corporation (“Second nature,” page 46), which pulls Santa Fe style in a retro-modern direction rarely pursued in the City Different.
Likewise, the three kitchens featured on these pages explore radically different designs (“The place to be,” page 39), from a fresh take on Santa Fe style in Tesuque, New Mexico, to sleek ultramodern in Albuquerque’s Four Hills area to sweet eye candy in the Ridgecrest neighborhood.
If you want to see an equally wide range of styles in new homes, treat yourself to the Custom Builders Council Home Tour. You’ll find everything from cozy family residences to sprawling luxury estates. Tour homes will be open for viewing around the Albuquerque metro area during two weekends, June 19–20 and 26–27.
I have no way of knowing what Santa Fe style pioneer Mary Jane Colter would say about any of these homes. (See Home at Last, page 35.) Colter would have recognized the bungalow—in her day they were all over Santa Fe and Albuquerque (and Las Vegas and Roswell . . .), thanks to the coming of the railroad in the late 19th century. As such, they predate the invention of Santa Fe style, earning their place in the Hall of Fame of New Mexico home styles. The hilltop house by Wolf Corporation was designed by architect John Covert Watson in the idiom of organic architecture, first articulated by Frank Lloyd Wright, Watson’s mentor. The home blends the swooping natural forms typical of organic homes with subtle quotes of the regional vernacular, from the Chaco Canyon style masonry around the entry and at the curvaceous hearth to the heavy vigas in the living room radiating from a central oculus, or round hublike skylight. Resting on a frame of steel beams and pillars, the ceiling structure harmonizes no-nonsense modernism with the almost obligatory Santa Fe self-referentialism. And it looks so cool.
For our part, Su Casa can dig this kind of harmonizing. As a media brand, we’re exploring new ways to put our arms around this world of New Mexican homes and the lifestyle they enable. That has led us to form a partnership with a video production company, CliffDweller Productions. Long the producers of HomeBuilders’ Gallery, a show featuring local homes and builders, CliffDweller is working with us to produce the new show, Su Casa Television Presented By HomeBuilders’ Gallery. Airing Sundays on KASA Fox 2 at 9:30 a.m. throughout New Mexico, the show continues to bring viewers walk-through tours of great New Mexico homes, now including some of the exciting residences we bring you on the pages of Su Casa. And if you miss the broadcast, check out our videos at SuCasaMagazine.com or youtube.com/homebuildersgallery.