a house for the ages

by Jessa Cast
photographs by Daniel Nadelbach

a Santa Fe couple harmoniously blends modern luxe with traditional Southwestern aesthetics

It all started with James Hunsaker’s mother’s best friend. In the 1980s she invited his mother to spend summers in Santa Fe. Pretty soon a trip to Santa Fe was a regular affair for the whole family. By the mid-2000s, both James’ brothers bought homes there. Slowly, the family was migrating from Texas to New Mexico. James and his wife Wendy, after living abroad for a decade, missed time with their families. It was a trip to Santa Fe in July 2018 that finally broke the camel’s back. They were visiting for a family birthday gathering. “He missed playing golf with his brothers,” says Wendy. And the next day they were looking at property.

They toured existing homes, but nothing enchanted them. Sensing an underlying desire to build, their Realtor connected the Hunsakers with Keith Gorges at Tierra Concepts, Inc., an award-winning designbuild company in Santa Fe. Gorges was in the early stages of building a spec home on a three-acre lot in Las Campanas. The Hunsakers, upon visiting the site and reviewing the blueprints, loved it. “When we saw Keith’s design, it was better than anything we could have dreamed of,“ says James. Noting the plentiful natural light in the plan, James adds, “he had me at 25 skylights.” The Hunsakers snapped it up and, with only a few modifications to the plans — an additional shower, a bar and a rooftop deck — the spec-turned-custom home was theirs.

For interior finish work, Gorges brought in Annie O’Carroll Interior Design, with whom Tierra Concepts has worked closely for more than 15 years. With 25 years in the business, O’Carroll knows a talented client when she meets one, and credits the Hunsakers with an admirable aesthetic vision. “They are such a good team, really in sync,” says O’Carroll. “I fulfilled their vision by bringing materials and craftspeople to the project.” The success of the group effort speaks for itself. This home is a mouth-watering work of art.

The three-bedroom, four-bathroom home confers texture. At 4,300 square feet, it’s a harmonious blend of modern luxe and traditional Southwestern aesthetics. “We wanted it to be casually elegant and comfortable,” says Wendy. Thoughtful divisions of space balance outsized rooms. “The rooms have a great, livable scale,” says O’Carroll. The openness feels inviting, not intimidating.

Three backlit onyx stones just inside the towering pivot-hinge front door greet visitors with an immediate dose of visual freshness. A consistent neutral, gray-to-brown palette exudes warmth, boosted by a plum-colored slate floor throughout. Lacquer-finished kitchen cabinets, reflective and sleek, anchor the neoteric feel, while bookmatched quartzite stone on the kitchen horizontals imbues an earthy sense.

“When we saw Keith’s design, it was better than anything we could have dreamed of. … He had me at 25 skylights.”—James Hunsaker

The master suite, an award winner in the August 2019 Santa Fe Parade of Homes, is at once spacious and cozy, utterly embracing in its neo-New Mexican flavor, with a focus on the long-range desert views. And those superlative skylights? Gorges eschews the traditional middle-of- the-room skylight where a waterfall of light can be more artful. “These are up against the wall. They create shafts of light and shadow against the architecture,” says Gorges. “The light is indirect; it doesn’t shine down in the middle of the room.”

Outside there is much to enjoy, from a rooftop deck to a hot tub to a putting green. The landscape is as artistically executed as the interior, with architectural planters, concrete spheres and a water feature. “They paid a lot of attention to the exterior spaces. They paid as much attention to the outside as to the inside,” says O’Carroll. Radiant heaters on the portal extend the season. With so many floor-to-ceiling windows, whether standing indoors looking out, or outdoors looking in, the view is impeccable.

The pièce de résistance, the first thing one notices upon arrival, the undeniable presence
throughout the home, is a towering, monolithic stone structure, the backbone of the house. “The stone wall bisects the house. It has overgrouted joints. It just looks old,” says Gorges. “In an abstract sense, you can imagine that the wall existed before the house did. And then apply elements of Santa Fe style to the design. You appreciate both elements more because they are contrasted.” To call it a wall is an understatement. It’s so substantial, it just feels it must have always been there, and the house was built around it. Juxtaposed against the modern envelope of the home, the stone monument is made even more beautiful as a primitive aesthetic.

So, what would one call the style of this mixed-media home? The artists who created it have a lot to say about that. “In this case we have exposed beams, as you would expect on a Pueblo Revival, and plaster interior,” says Gorges. “But the plaster is very contemporary with square-edge corners.”

“If I had to sum up the look, I’d call it ‘masculine glam.’ The textures are very masculine, but the finishes have a lot of glamour to them.”—Wendy Hunsaker

“If I had to sum up the look,” says Wendy, “I’d call it ‘masculine glam.’ The textures are very masculine, but the finishes have a lot of glamour to them.” O’Carroll agrees, saying, “It rides that tension between masculine and feminine.” Gorges ties it all together, saying “This home is part of an experiment, one I call ‘contextual modern.’” It’s the embodiment of a cutting-edge, modern New Mexican home casting a respectful eye on the past.

Happily ensconced in their new abode, Wendy and James enjoy lots of time with family now. James finally gets to enjoy some golf with his brothers, and then comes home to a house for the ages.

resources

Builder
Tierra Concepts, Inc.

Interior Design
Annie O’Carroll Interior Design

Appliances
Sierra West Sales

Art (Onyx)
Sequoia Santa Fe

Cabinetry
Ernest Thompson

Countertops (Fabricator)
Counter Intelligence

Exterior Fountains
Stone Forest

Fireplaces
Mountain West Sales
mountainwestsales.net

Fixtures
Santa Fe By Design

Flooring & Tile
Milestone Imports
Allbright & Lockwood

Garage Doors
Windsor Door Sales

Kitchen Backsplash
Arizona Tile
Counter Intelligence

Landscaping
Tierra Concepts, Inc.

Lighting
La Luz Lighting

Natural Stone
Kinney Brick

Outdoor Furniture
Moss Outdoor

Skylights
Insulite Skylights, LLC

Sliding Window Walls, Windows
Pella Window and Door

Steel Windows/Pivot Door & Gates
Ripple Metal Fabrication

Window Coverings
Custom Window Coverings, Ltd.