Starling ResidenceAspen Park, Colorado

Design DevelopmentMaterials & Influences

Santa Fe Territorial Style

David SpruntLA 6631 - Fall 2006

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Contents

Introduction 3

History of The Territorial Style 4

Native American Adobe & Pueblo Style 4

Spanish Colonial Style 4

Territorial Style 5

Territorial Revival Style 6

Design Examples 7

Styles of Adobe Construction 7

Portal 8

Pilaster & Wall Cap 9

Guardrails & Balusters 10

Arbor (Ramada) 11

Flooring 12

Stairs 13

Furniture, Planters & Pottery 14

Accent Colors 15

Water Features 16

Territorial Style References 17

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IntroductionTo ensure design integrity when developing details for a landscaping project, it is important to

understand the limitations and potential of the site and its surroundings as well as the historical traditions and forms of the surrounding architecture. This document describes the history and development of the Santa Fe Territorial Style architecture of the American southwest used in the Starling residence. The brief history below is followed by images of design details consistent with the Territorial Revival Style that could be used in the portal and courtyard area of the residence.

When design rhymes across time, it demonstrates a sense of history, and when it rhymes across space, it reinforces a sense of place.” - Douglas Kelbaugh, architect as quoted in Facing Southwest: The Life & Houses of John Gaw Meem.

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History of The Territorial Style

Native American Adobe & Pueblo StyleBefore the arrival of European explorers in the fi fteenth through seventeenth centuries, Native

Americans built their dwelling and ceremonial structures in forms that were dictated by the culture of their society and the local climate. The three general types of structures were round-frame houses like the tipi used by the Plains natives, rectangular-wood frame structures such as the longhouses developed by natives along the east coast and Pacifi c northwest, and earth-wall structures like those used by the natives of the American southwest.

Smaller, portable structures like the tipi and wigwam were used by nomadic tribes and were often covered with animal hides or straw, while larger permanent buildings were typically built by agricultural societies.1

In the arid parts of the American West, dugout, masonry or adobe houses were common and well-suited to the region’s low rainfall. Unprotected adobe rapidly deteriorates when exposed to the elements and is especially susceptible to deterioration from rain and snow, so is best suited to places where the average rainfall is less than about 20 inches per year2.

Some Native American tribes built massive multi-unit pueblos, others used small dugouts, but all of these adobe or masonry structures used systems of wooden roof timbers to support earthen roofs.3

Because it was so diffi cult to cut wood without metal tools, the builders allowed the ends of these timbers to protrude outside the structure. These bark-stripped wooden beams are called “vigas,” a term in use today that also applies to the vertical roof supports.

Ancient walls were built using puddled adobe, a time-consuming technique requiring workers to pile a mud-and-straw adobe mixture along the wall, then wait for it to harden before piling on another course. The oldest buildings of this type are the massive Casas Grandes ruins of northern Sonora, Mexico and near Florence, Arizona, southeast of Phoenix.4

Because of the nature of the material and the way it was used, the walls of these puddled adobe structures were often several feet thick and provided not only support for the roof and upper fl oors, but also protection from enemies.

The cooler and more secure center rooms of the building were often used to store food, while the outer rooms were used as living quarters. Beginning in the thirteenth century, removable ladders were used to enter the buildings by way of the second fl oor and could be pulled up if the need arose. As Agnesa Reeve describes in her book, The Small Adobe House, “ Doors were often made of octillo cactus ribs or slender posts; tiny windows, if covered at all, perhaps had a sheet of selenite, a type of translucent quartz. Floors, almost universally of dirt, sometimes were treated with ox blood, which dried to a glossy, hard fi nish.”5

Spanish Colonial StyleIn the sixteenth century, Spanish colonists and missionaries brought their faith, culture, customs

and architecture to the American Southwest. But each of these cultural infl uences changed as they encountered the Native American cultures. The newly arrived Spanish architecture, itself infl uenced by the Moors’occupation on southern Spain and even earlier by the Romans, was reinterpreted and transformed yet again by local craftsmen of the Southwest using their local materials and traditions.

A signifi cant advance in adobe construction came when the Spanish introduced the use of wooden

1 McAlester, Virginia & Lee. Field Guide to North American Houses, p 65.2 Reeve, The Small Adobe House, p.6.3 Ibid,, 734 Ibid., 10.5 Ibid,, 15

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forms to shape adobe bricks, thereby improving construction speed and effi ciency over the ‘puddled adobe’ technique.

Traditional Spanish homes were built around an enclosed courtyard where family life centered. The courtyard often contained a well or fountain, fl owering shrubs, bright colors, and comfortable shade.6 Often, houses took this form over time. As the family became more affl uent, independent rooms were added and were joined together around a courtyard.7 Another common feature of these homes is the covered porch or portale that opens onto the courtyard and provides a sheltered connection between the the rooms of the house.

During the Spanish Colonial period between about 1600 and 1821, wealthier colonists incorporated these features into their growing adobe homes. Most of the colonists lived in impoverished outposts and their homes took the form of small one- or two-room structures with tiny windows and corner fi replaces. They were mostly devoid of decoration and out of necessity had simple designs. Hispanic colonists in the region often brought small reminders of home up the trail from Mexico, like mirrors to refl ect light into the dark rooms and maybe a silver spoon, cup or even a chair.8

Few outside visitors came to these colonial outposts before the early part of the nineteenth century. Those who did were often transient trappers or traders who were not inclined to build permanent homes. That changed in 1821 when Mexico gained its independence and opened up the territory for trade with the norteamericanos.9

Territorial StyleThe new trade routes, especially the Santa Fe Trail, greatly infl uenced architecture in the region and

brought many new settlers. The trail provided a conduit for building materials like tin for roofs and glass for windows, as well as strong metal tools that could be used to work wood for new buildings.

In the late 1840’s, Mexico ceded the southwest states, including New Mexico, to the United States. Subsequently, the United States government set up army forts and outposts in the territory to protect the new arrivals from the increasingly displaced native peoples. The Army outposts also had a signifi cant infl uence on the style of architecture in the new territory. As the Army moved into the region in the 1850s, they incorporated the Greek Revival style into the adobe structures of their new outposts.10

This style had been popular along the Eastern states between 1830 and 1850 as an evocative depiction of Greek democracy in the new nation.11

Some of the Greek Revival architectural details incorporated into the Territorial Style included sharp building corners, pedimented windows, doors with windows or side lights, and brick dentil cornices along the top of the traditional adobe parapet. This last feature also served to increase the durability of the adobe structures by protecting the wall from water damage.

In northern New Mexico, and other areas that had more rain and snowfall, low pitched gabled tin roofs came into vogue.

The Territorial Style was not to last long, however. When the railroads arrived in the region in the 1880’s, inexpensive milled lumber became available and territorial and Hispanic building styles were

largely abandoned in favor of wood-framed, Victorian-style structures.

6 Stedman, Adobe Architecture. P.17 McAlester, 132.8 Reeve, p. 15.9 Reeve, p. 1510 McAlester, Field Guide, p130.11 McAlester, Field Guide, 177.

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Territorial Revival StyleThe Victorian period lasted from about 1880 to the 1920’s. Around 1910 there was a movement

in the country toward architectural styles that demonstrated craftsmanship and historic precedence and downplayed the overly ornate traditions of the Victorian period.

This movement created the Mission and Craftsman styles as well as the Pueblo Revival, which has also been called “Pueblo-Spanish Revival” and a variation appearing in Santa Fe in 1920 called the Territorial Revival.12

The Territorial Revival Styleincorporated many of the features of the original Territorial Style, including fi red brick along the parapets and windows and doors in the Greek Revival motif.

One of the key fi gures in the development of the Territorial Revival style was Santa Fe architect John Gaw Meem, who designed many homes for doctors, politicians, lawyers and others infl uential in Santa Fe society between the 1920’s and 1940’s. Many of the examples of architectural details on the following pages are taken from houses he designed.

Meem incorporated traditional elements of the previous regional styles with Beaux-Arts training, a Romantic aesthetic and modern sensibility, opening up interior spaces and carefully considering the fl ows of progression and light through his houses as well as the interaction between the interior and exterior of the homes.13 The Romantics emphasized the importance of the individual’s aesthetic experience of a place, including beauty through symmetry and proportion, the sublime through experiencing contrasts, vistas and massing, and the picturesque through novel, exotic or irregular designs.14

Although many of Meem’s houses were made of authentic adobe bricks, he also used hollow terra-cotta tile blocks for construction, but ensured they were fi nished with stucco to appear like traditional adobe with “irregular contours of its wall surfaces and silhouettes”.15

The Pueblo Revival and Territorial Revival styles are today often interchangeably known as the Santa Fe style. Indeed, Santa Fe codifi ed this as the offi cial architectural style of the city in 1957, providing a brand identity for the New Mexico city, although most of the new construction is commonly known among locals as ‘faux-dobe’ since it is essentially a rounded stucco veneer over concrete block or wood frame construction.

12 McAlester, Field Guide. 435.13 Wilson, Chris. Facing Southwest: The Life and Houses of John Gaw Meem. 12814 Wilson. Facing Southwest, 21-22.15 Wilson, Facing Southwest, 19.

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Design Examples

Styles of Adobe Construction

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I recommend squared, dark stained viga supports with chamfered edges and simple raised details at the capital of the column.

A traditional fojon corner fi replace should be used in the portal to add warmth in eve-nings year-round. It can be built to blend in to the walls of the house.

Sturdy wooden furniture enhances the sense of the portal as a room

Hooks on beams can be used for plants or chimes

Attractive tin lanterns add visual warmth in the evening

Portal

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Pilaster & Wall Cap

A three or four course brick cap on walls, columns and pilasters incorpo-rating a dentil pattern is in keeping with the Territorial Style.

Brick wall cap in one of John Gaw Meem’s original drawings

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Guardrails & Balusters

In the Territorial Style, wood balus-ters and guardrails are usually more suitable than wrought iron. However, wrought iron might be used for the guardrails of the Starling residence to be in sync with the wrought iron railings specifi ed on the second fl oor windows above the bedrooms.

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Arbor (Ramada)

The ramada was traditionally a tem-porary structure built of rough lum-ber to shelter cattle. Carved corbels and functional joinery are used to increase the strength of the structure by distributing the load of the beam over a greater area.

Some Territorial Style homes used very ornate painted arbors, but I don’t think this is wise for the Starling residence because of the increased maintenance needed for the painted surfaces and my recom-mendation to use stained wood for the vigas and guardrails.

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Flooring

Patterned brick or fl agstone could be used for the portal and patio. I recom-mend either the brick pattern to the left or the sandstone fl agstone below. Stamped, colored concrete could also be an alternatve to fl agstone.

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Stairs

Here are two options for the stairs. The example above uses blue tiles in the risers to provide a highlight and brighten the experience. The stairs to the left use two courses of rough cobbles as the riser.

Both stairs use slabs of sandstone as the tread, which I reccomend for traction and durability.

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Furniture, Planters & Pottery

I recommend using cast aluminum furniture with all-weather pillows for the portal and the area around the ramada. Cast aluminum provides lighet weight and durability

Raised concrete bases on portal columns may be useful in addressing the grade change between the bedrooms and the portal, as well as provid-ing water protection to the bases of the wood columns.

Terra cotta planters should be used to hold perennial and annual fl owers and herbs in the garden. Visual interest can be added to bare walls by using interesting planters like this one.

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Accent Colors

Vivid colors should be used as highlights in the patio since they will not tend to fade under the harsh Colorado sunshine. Ever-greens should also be used to provide some vegetative color dur-ing winter months.

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Water Features

Originally found in Islamic gardens and courtyards, the Spanish Colonial style often incorporated a well or foun-tain in the patio to add interest, color, sound and texture. Fountains also serve to create a cooling microclimate and attract birds to the garden.

The two images above show spring and summer views of a fountain in a home designed by John Gaw Meem in the 1930’s. Note the effect of vegetation growth on the feel of the place, as well as the use of bright colored tiles to add interest to the space.

Fountains can be very attractive in courtyard settings, but they do require ongoing cleaning and maintenance and may develop undesirable patinas like the mineral depos-its visible in the image at top right.

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Territorial Style References

Bix, Cynthia. New Mexico: The Spirit of America State by State. New York, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1998. – Small guide book to the arts and history of New Mexico.

Nucomb, Duane G. The Owner-Build Adobe House. New York, Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1980. – Shows construction techniques for building your own adobe house, including an outdoor oven or horno.

Mather, Christine. Santa Fe Houses. New York, Clarkson Potter/Publishers. 2002. – Primarily covers the interior design and décor of Santa Fe houses.

McAlester, Virginia and Lee. A Field Guide To American Houses. New York, Alfred A. Knopff, Inc. 1990. – Excellent resource for understanding historical precedents and details of many styles of Ameri-can houses.

Reeve, Agnesa. The Small Adobe House. Layton, Utah, Gibbs Smith. 2001. – Brief history and contemporary examples of adobe architecture in the United States, primarily in the Southwest.

Theroux, Paul. “Architectural Digest Visits Senator and Mrs. John McCain – Southwestern Style for their Phoenix Family Home”. Architectural Digest,. New York, Conde Nast Publications. Vol 62, No.7, July 2005– Interior and exterior photos and descriptions of the McCain family’s Pueblo Revival style home.

Stedman, Myrtle and Wilfred. Adobe Architecture. Santa Fe, Sunstone Press. 1978. – Appears to be a reprint of a collection of Territorial Revival house plans from the 1930’s and’40’s with annotation and sketches of house details.

Wilson, Chris. Facing Southwest: The Life & Houses of John Gaw Meem. New York, W. W. Norton & Company. 2001.– Excellent resource for photos and design ideas about the preeminent designer of Santa Fe’s Territorial Revival and Pueblo Revival style houses. Well written and beautifully put together.