RESIDENTIAL
Sturm Residence

LOCATION: La Madera, New Mexico

DATE: Completed in 2001

SIZE: Main Residence 2,000 s.f.
         Courtyard and Portales: 1,300 s.f.

COST: Withheld at Owner’s Request

MAJOR MATERIALS: Adobe walls, Adobe interior plaster, Maple and Oak floors. Aspen ceilings, tin metal roofing.

SYSTEMS: Passive Solar heating and cooling, wood burning fireplace, radiant floor heat. 

ENVIRONMENT: This site is located in the Rio Vallecitos valley of northern New Mexico at a 7,000 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 use of adobe construction techniques help blend the building into the surrounding pitched tin roof adobe architectural traditions of northern New Mexico. In keeping with this tradition, all hallways were forbidden, having the exterior portal for circulation between rooms as well as direct doorway between them as in the old farmhouses of the area.

DESIGN: The owner wanted a quiet retreat where he could have lots of privacy and yet enjoy the spectacular river valley setting. The house was sited on the upper portion of the property, to keep the pasture area open for continued farming and grazing use. Mr. Sturm has quite a collection of antiques, and wanted the design of the house to not only incorporate his collection, but to integrate antique Indian doors, columns and decorative wood panels into the fabric of the new residence.