RESIDENTIAL
Casa Mirasol

AWARDS: AIA Merit Award 

LOCATION: Ojo Caliente, New Mexico

DATE: Completed in 1999  

OWNERS: John & Polly Barton

SIZE: West Wing (main house) 1,500 s.f.
          East Wing (bedrooms & office) 1,600 s.f.
          4 bedrooms, 3 baths with home offices
          Studio, 300 s.f.

MAJOR MATERIALS: Adobe walls, adobe interior and exterior plaster, maple, flagstone and white cement floors. metal roofing.

SYSTEMS: Passive Solar heating and cooling, biomass wood stoves, radiant floor heat. Grey water constructed wetlands reclaims 80 percent of waste water for irrigation. The west wing has a rainwater catchment system, filter and 5,000 gallon below ground cistern as a back up water supply.

ENVIRONMENT: This site is located in the pinon and juniper forest of northern New Mexico at a 6,800 ft. elevation. The high desert temperature extremes were taken advantage of with the use of traditional adobe construction, which keeps the house cool in summer and warm in winter. The house was built into the site with as little disturbance to the landscape as possible. The use of adobe plaster helps blend the building into the surrounding ground. Native grasses are being encouraged to surround the buildings. This design is an exellent example of Sustainability in Architecture.