For those of us who live here, we know that New Mexico is an incredibly special place with its dramatic landscape, stunning sunsets, delightful climate, and a culture that stands apart. While we value all these wonderful attributes, I’m struck how our homes embrace these same qualities.
This fall’s Albuquerque Parade of Homes allows potential home buyers to see how each builder has used the land, the location, and most especially our local culture, to create and build homes that are singularly New Mexico. One of the less obvious, and yet distinctive, New Mexico qualities is our dedication to energy-efficient homes. From the days of building with adobe, New Mexico has a tradition of respecting the land and the environment. We can be proud that so many homes in this parade respect the land with energy-efficient features.
The culture of New Mexico gives builders and the interior designers working closely with them a vast array of opportunities. One of the homes featured in this issue uses a wide assortment of repurposed furniture and design elements that speak to ancient history and cultures. Conversely, we often see “vigas” in the form of steel beams in more contemporary homes, a nod to our history of New Mexico home construction. Exposed brick and tile floors, traditional and contemporary, are all part of our culture.
The Parade of Homes is such a wonderful opportunity to see a home that could be yours. I encourage you to consider these qualities of environment and culture and how they are integrated in the design and construction of each home. What do you like best and why? The point of viewing homes is to help identify what you want in your home by seeing how others have done it. It’s a rare opportunity.
Armed with this knowledge you will make good decisions on your next new home or will have ideas about to transform your current residence. It is for this reason I attend the Parade of Homes, and I hope to see you out there as well. We’ll all have a better vision for our homes now and in the future.
Bruce Adams
Publisher
