by Kastle Waserman
photographs by Daniel Nadelbach
a custom home comes to fruition despite the loss of the family’s patriarch meant to oversee the build
Lisa and Jerry Todd Jr. toured several lots before discovering the perfect spot to perch their new home—one of their biggest requirements was unobstructed mountain views. They found a North Albuquerque Acres location with what Jerry Todd Sr. advised was a dream lot on which they could situate the house to take advantage of the views and have a north-facing backyard to stay cool in the hot New Mexico summers for recreation and entertainment.
Jerry Todd Sr. was a longtime builder and owner of Todd Construction in Albuquerque, and having him oversee the project with his years of experience and knowledge of what the couple wanted, was an ideal situation. But when he died unexpectedly right before construction was to begin, the couple was left without their guiding force.
Fortunately, they had John Schiffer of Master Homecrafters Inc. on hand as the lead building contractor, whom they had known for four years through other projects. Schiffer had planned on partnering with Jerry Sr. but stepped up to take the lead in his absence. Schiffer came to their house with a bowl of cherries picked from the couple’s new neighborhood. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you,” he told them.
“Their dad had enough vision to find them the right lot, which is half the secret to a good home,” Schiffer adds. “And I steered them to what I thought would be the right home designer for them based on their wishes.” That was Mike Cabber, whom Schiffer trusted to get it right.
The home is 6,000 square feet on almost a full acre. The Todds had a clear vision of what they wanted, including Lisa’s specific interior design requests, which she managed herself.
The build took 18 months, and Schiffer’s team rose to the challenge of incorporating a variety of materials the Todds wanted, including stone veneer on the exterior and various finishes on the interior. The house has four bedrooms, a gym, an office, a media room, three laundry rooms, a large-scale pantry, an attached casita and two outdoor living areas.
There are also seven bathrooms throughout the home, and Lisa wanted a different look for each one, from the paint color to the tiles to the lighting and plumbing fixtures. “Although it was a lot of work, it was super important to me,” she says. “I just loved doing it, and it was a lot of fun!”
The kitchen was designed for the couple’s love of cooking and entertaining. It has two large islands for meal prep and seating, a custom spice drawer and a spacious adjacent pantry room. A five-foot galley sink serves as a workstation with accessories for preparing and serving food. But a feature Lisa particularly loves is her Zip faucet. “I drink a lot of sparkling water, but it also delivers boiling water so you can use it for cooking like blanching vegetables,” she says.
From the kitchen, there is a pass-through window to one of two outdoor spaces, which are designed for enjoyment by family and friends with a large pool, outdoor kitchen and covered dining area. They also fully landscaped the nearly one-acre surrounding lot.
The home’s color palette is neutral, with pops of deep blues and grays. “I wanted to introduce color in the right space, but I didn’t want it all over the house. So, there’s color on different accents and pockets of the home,” Lisa says.
Schiffer was slightly in awe at the number of paint colors they used. “I think we counted about sixteen different colors!” he says. “That’s more than we typically use.”
A lot of color was used on the custom cabinetry throughout the home, which Schiffer’s team designed. “They wanted certain things that suited their needs like drawers and pull-outs,” he says. “We did custom builds on all the closets, which all came out very nice.”
For the office, she wanted dark and moody, so the walls and built-in cabinets are a deep blue gray. The inviting and sophisticated bar area also features rich, deep blue cabinetry and walls plus gold pendant lights and fixtures, a color combination Lisa fell in love with after seeing it in another home.
The primary bedroom and bath area, which features a coffee bar, steam shower, dry sauna and doorway to a hot tub, were kept neutral to create a spa-like feeling.
In addition to abundant natural light from floor-to-ceiling windows, Lisa also picked out high-end light fixtures. Along with recessed overhead lighting throughout the house, there are a variety of sconces, pendant lights, a glamorous chandelier in the primary bath and wagon-wheelstyle chandelier in the living room.
“They say lighting is like jewelry, and that’s how I thought of it,” she says.
While there are layers of lighting throughout the home and exterior property, it’s easily orchestrated by smart home controls on clean, one-switch panels, tablets and apps. The apps also control other smart fixtures throughout the house, such as the security systems, TVs, blinds, front gate, sprinklers and pool settings. “You could be sitting on the couch, and if you wanted to turn a light off or turn on music, you can just use your phone or tablet. You don’t have to get up,” Jerry Jr. says.
One notable element in the house is the lack of steps. Designed to age in place, the Todds wanted this to be their forever home and built a casita in the back with universal design to accommodate caregiving in the future, complete with modifications including grab bars, wide doorframes, an open shower and a bath that meets ADA requirements to make it safe for the elderly.
One last touch was Bible verses on the walls throughout the home and a special wall dedicated to Jerry Todd Sr. that reads: This home is dedicated to Jerry Todd Sr. watching down on our build from above. Because someone we love is in heaven, there’s a little bit of heaven in our home.
“Jerry Sr. would have loved seeing the final outcome of our vision and how it came together to become this beautiful home,” Lisa says. “He would have been over the moon at the final product. We know he is with us in spirit as we create new family memories here.”
resources
Home Builder/Cabinetry
Master Homecrafters
Home Designer
Mike Cabber
Interior Selections
Lisa Todd
Appliances
Builders Source Appliance Gallery
builderssource.com
Audio/Visual System/Smart Home
Music Man Entertainment
Bathroom/Kitchen Fixtures
Ferguson Bath Kitchen & Lighting Gallery
Countertops/Backsplash Stone
Arizona Tile
United Stoneworks (Fabrication/Installation)
Fireplaces/Front Door/Sliding Window Walls
Western Building Supply, Inc.
Flooring (Wood)
ProSource of Albuquerque
Interior Doors
Rugby Architectural Building Products
Landscaping
Waterquest Landscaping
Tile
Arizona Tile
Floor & Decor
Windowcoverings
Blind Scapes
