Sixteen entries on Parade of Homes

By: Paul Weideman
Published online: Sunday, August 05, 2012
Appeared in: Home, Santa Fe Real Estate Guide
Edition: August 2012 Vol. 15 No. 5

It’s just about time for that annual opportunity to get inside a few of Santa Fe’s very cool new houses — and several great remodels. Haciendas — A Parade of Homes, sponsored by the Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association, features 16 homes. That’s down from 30 or 40 when the market was really moving a few years ago, but this is still a tantalizing home tour. (Who ever had time to see 35 houses, anyway?)

The offerings for 2012 range from a 750-square-foot condo (a $137,000 remodel) in the South Capitol District to new, multi-million-dollar houses.

The tour is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, Aug. 10- 12 and 17-19. A ticket is $15 and one ticket is all you need to visit any of the houses on any of the days. Many of the builders are participating in a special Twilight Tour, which is held from 4 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 16, with free admission.

New this year is The Value of Design, sponsored by the Santa Fe chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). “This will be held at Jay Etkin Gallery, which will also be the tour information center,” said Dalinda Bangert, administrative director of the Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association. “It will be open an hour early, at 10 a.m., if people want to go there for tickets, to see the architecture exhibits, and get a tour map.

The Value of Design, created by architect Dan Featheringill, is a gallery display of work by architects and Haciendas build- ers. It begins with a 6-8 p.m. reception on Thursday, Aug. 9, and will be open on regular tour days from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

A highlight of the AIA event happens on Saturday, Aug. 11, when four Santa Fe architects will give talks:

9 a.m. — “Introduction to Architectur- ally Enhanced Rain Catchment” by Bob Kreger, of Kreger Design Build;

11 a.m. — “The Interrelationship of Sus- tainable Construction and Quality Design” by Jon Dick, Archaeo Architects;

1 p.m. — “Roofs and Undersides” by James Horn, Spears Architects; and

3 p.m. — “Spirit of Place: Site-Specific Design Process” by Alexander Dzurec, Autotroph Design.

The competition element of Haciendas again promises to award the tour’s best in home craftsmanship, and excellence and innovation in design, kitchens, and outdoor living spaces, as well as today’s all- important sustainability categories.

“I believe they have the same categories as last year: Grand Green, Energy Efficiency, Water Efficiency, Site & Resource Efficiency, and Indoor Air Quality in two different categories for smaller and larger homes,” Bangert elaborated. “The difference for 2012 is they’re having the builders fill out not just the HERS [Home Energy Rating System] figure but also a Home Heating Index number. That evaluates the shell, how well-insulated the structure is, and therefore gives a good idea of what it will cost to heat and cool the building.”

Tour maps can be found at the Jay Etkin Gallery, 703 Camino de la Familia, and at Century Bank and Los Alamos National Bank locations, at Dahl Plumbing, and at Builders’ Source. Buy tickets at the Lensic Performing Arts Center box office or during Haciendas at any tour home.