Features

Epic Proportions

By: Ashleigh Morris
Spanish Colonial style reaches new heights in this European-influenced masterpieceWith nearly 40 Las Campanas homes under her belt, designer Sharon Woods has learned that God is in the details. And for this 5,000-square-foot, Rastra-built house, a 2006 Home of the Year winner, her inspiration was truly divine.

    “The house has church-like proportions,” says the pint-sized local builder as she stands in the entryway of the home, where 14-foot ceilings, spanned by rows of 12-by-12-inch hand-hewn beams, lure the eye skyward. Each end is accented with a flowing corbel. “We design corbels specific to each house we build,” she says. “These were designed to look like angels’ wings.”

      The santuario-like feel is fitting: The homeowners are avid collectors of Spanish Colonial art, their carved santos standing sentinel on coffee tables and mantels throughout the three-bedroom house and specially created recessed areas showcasing antique mirrors and furniture. Yet having spent significant time overseas, the couple also wanted to capture a sense of European style in a home that maximizes natural light and the lot’s dramatic views to east and west. So Wood’s team wrapped the floor plan around an interior courtyard, with the home’s first front door, decorated with flowing branches forged in iron by Bob Larison, only hinting at the grandeur to come. The actual front doors—two massive wooden panels, each with a hand-carved tree of life—open onto an immense great room with a cathedral feel, its west-facing windows framing a stunning view of the Jemez mountains.

     On the room’s south side, matching mesquite and Sabino Mexican doors flank the fireplace and lead to a book-filled library. Opposite, two doorways open onto a formal dining room, its vaulted ceiling repeated in arched windows that face the mountains. Underfoot, 24-by-24-inch flagstone tiles cover most of the home’s floor and its numerous portals. “The home has great symmetry without being Palladian or choking,” Woods says. “It’s classic, and in 50 years, it will still feel classic.”

     In the hallway leading through a butler’s pantry and to the kitchen, a specially created wine rack forged by local blacksmith Francis Nowiki, who also designed the portal railings, recedes into a nook in the hall. In the kitchen, antique corbels support the stove hood, where handmade Tunisian mosaic tiles, each no larger than a dime, were installed—using tweezers—as the backsplash. The center island, built with ends that resemble a curving piece of furniture, showcase some of the homeowners’ dishes, collected from around the world. Three arched windows above the sink provide a stunning view of the Sangre de Cristos.

     In the family room, around the corner from the kitchen, is the home’s most distinctive feature: a massive fireplace hand-built of Rio Chama stone. “They’re not common in Santa Fe,” Woods says of the log cabin–inspired structure more-often seen in the farther reaches of Northern New Mexico. “Yet it anchors the house.” A skylight is tucked in near the top of the chimney to bathe the structure in natural light, and the creator, William Campbell of Sadhu Stone, left 12 rocks unmortared, of which the homeowner’s grandchildren have discovered only five so far.

      The master bedroom, designed around a 10-foot wooden armoire the owners brought from Austria, features a kiva fireplace and a private portal—two elements Woods brought to every bedroom in the home. The master bath adheres to another of Woods’s design philosophies: “I like them to feel like rooms, so you can add furniture.” In it, travertine countertops complement the travertine stone floors.

      Throughout the home, antique doors and shutters have been refitted for everything from linen closets to cabinets and tiny windows as part of Woods’ overriding attention to detail. Antique Portuguese hand-painted tiles are part of the backsplash for the outdoor grill. Floors of reclaimed wood add a sense of coziness to the kitchen. In the powder room, an antique chest serves as the vanity.

     For Woods, as important as the architectural details is the quality of light. “Anywhere you stand, you see natural light, yet this is a very traditional house,” she says. She’s also fond of the interaction between heavy masculine elements—the massive walls, beams, and stone fireplace—and the lighter, feminine points—corbels, nichos, and muted colors— along with the home’s unifying sense of scale. “It’s just right. We really hit it.”—Ashleigh Morris