Photos by Daniel Nadelbach A sweeping entry staircase with bright Mexican tile leads to a massive arched wooden door.

A Remodeled Santa Fe Home Gains a Hacienda-Style Look

There were vague inklings of Hacienda style in this 1960s-era Santa Fe residence when its current owners bought it several years ago. But those elements were few and far between. They included a bit of scrolled ironwork, a tiled courtyard fountain, a rambling floor plan and a deep portal. It took an imaginative eye to see beyond the otherwise hodgepodge design and visualize these features pulled together as an integral whole. The woman of the house, whose background includes a study of interior design, had such an eye.

“Everyone thought I was crazy,” she recalls, descending a wide flight of stairs from the upstairs kitchen into the light-filled sitting room, where antiques mingle comfortably with Contemporary pieces. Before the owners undertook a major remodel, the charm and warmth of a hacienda were not what the house called to mind. The wife described it as “kind of dark and spooky,” with its black-painted woodwork and ceilings, a wall of black louvered doors, and posts and beams made from reclaimed creosote-blackened railroad ties. One of the bathrooms had 1950s-style maroon walls and a black tub, and the kitchen ceiling was only 7 feet high.

But the “bones” of the home were basically good, and the couple was attracted to its distinctive multilevel design. “It wasn’t typical, and I like that,” the wife explains. Transforming the house into a gracious Hacienda-style space involved removing interior walls, widening doors, raising ceilings, adding a second outdoor living area, and incorporating details such as ironwork by a local artisan and colorful hand-painted tile.

Inside, a nicho displays a collection of Mexican and Spanish Colonial pieces, including a vintage mosaic tile of Santo Niño de Atocha and an angel bulto (carved religious figure).

The home’s entrance was made grand and more welcoming by replacing a steep exterior stairway with a curving double staircase that embraces a tiled fountain area. In addition, some of the home’s black brick floors were replaced with wood, and some of the stark-white walls were replastered in rich, warm hues. A deep shade of terra-cotta orange for the exterior stucco distinguishes the home from the typical Santa Fe adobe and adds to the hacienda’s charm.

The open, expansive kitchen took on a welcoming feel with earth-toned walls, a large triangular island, and a backsplash with hand-painted Talavera and Tlaquepaque tiles the couple had collected over the years during travels to Mexico. Removing walls to merge the kitchen and family room created a livable area where the homeowners spend much of their time. Graceful touches such as wrought-iron lanterns and chandeliers, and scrolled ironwork on Juliet balconies off the dining room and master suite add to the sense of elegance and ease.

Indeed, the wife relates, a key aim of the home’s redesign was Hacienda-style comfort for the couple and their six dogs, as well as visiting children and grandchildren. “For us, the space works,” she says. “It’s a really easy house.”

Handmade pottery from the village of Mata Ortiz, Mexico, lines high shelves in the sitting room.

A print by artist Leslie Dill and a Spanish Colonial-style cabinet exemplify the couple’s wide-ranging tastes.

The sitting room is infused with color and charm. A good portion of the furnishings were part of the homeowners’ collection, including the woolly folk-art sheep.

One of the home’s original hacienda elements was the handcrafted scrolled ironwork grille covering the dining room fireplace. Replacing stark-white walls with rich, warm plaster colors contributed to the home’s blend of traditional Santa Fe and south-of-the-border styles.

Some decorative exterior ironwork that was already in place when the owners bought the property served as inspiration for the remodel.