New Mexico
Post date: Sep 29, 2014 8:29:10 PM
Here begins a new adventure in New Mexico.
Three years ago Carol and I bought a building lot in Valverde Commons, a ‘co-housing’ community very close to the center of Taos, New Mexico. She changed her mind about moving there, but I held the idea in reserve.
Now that Carol is buried and suitably memorialized (more than suitably, the service was wonderful, with an outstanding homily, inspired eucharist, and professional luncheon, complete with flowers and a display of Carol’s writings, photos, and vestments), I am going to Taos to see if I can design a house (together with an experience architect and the contractors), merge into a community, and find volunteer work that will keep me out of trouble.
My priorities for the house are as follows:
The design and construction must be a fun project for me. I prefer cooperative design with architect and general, landscape, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and other contractors. I would like to learn how construction techniques in Taos vary from what I have learned in other parts of the world. That probably means hands-on work as a helper on the job.
- Efficient, comfortable residence. Warm, dry, light, quiet, clean, useful, spacious, pleasant, and paid for.
- Passive solar-slab, Passive House Institute US, but not obsessively so. I don’t want to feel separated from the landscape by an obviously tight building envelope or pay for an idea that does not have significant payback. I want an economic cost-benefit study of major trade-offs. I will do the analysis, but will need data from contractors and suppliers.
- A long-lasting residence. I don’t favor the latest style fad, because in a few years that fad will be dated. I want this house to be comfortably habitable in 100 years without major repairs.
- Neighbor-friendly. The house must appear to fit with the landscape and with neighboring buildings and surrounding community.
Design and construction would be an impossible task for me alone. While I could tackle the engineering and mechanical aspects of residential construction, the artistic aspects require the experience eye of an architect. Three years ago Carol and I worked with Robert Parker to arrive at a conceptual design, based on our requirements (‘building program’) at the time.
Needless to say, my requirements have changed. And meanwhile I have worked on old adobe Colonial style houses in Nicaragua, learning some (new to me) building techniques that are suitable for warmer climates, and some techniques that I would like to avoid. So I have recorded what I think I want, prior to meeting with the architect and restarting this project on a new footing.
It is impossible for me to keep my ideas at the right level. I know I am supposed to start with the site and the orientation of the house relative to the sun, street, and neighbors. I’m supposed to think of space, rooms, proximity, and layout. But I find myself mired in details - such as, what model refrigerator would I like, and is it white, black, stainless steel, or avocado colored? Do I need a water softener, and where do I put it? Trivial (at this stage) details abound.
Writing all this down does make me realize that there are an enormous number of decisions required to design and build a house. They may be made by the owner, the architect, the contractor, the carpenter, a building inspector, or the flooring salesman, but they all happen. I would like these decisions to fit within my concept of this house, even if I delegate the decisions to others.