Adobe Remodeling [SOLD]

From the Book:

Preservation Of Adobe Architecture

Adobe (earth mixed with straw and water) lends itself beautifully to architectural form and to the remodeling of form. In arid areas such as Santa Fe and surrounding villages and towns where adobe is readily available and climatic conditions favor its use, we need not think of an adobe building as an absolute entity that can neither be added to nor taken from. Traditionally, the history of an adobe house starts with four walls, a fireplace and a roof overhead; the structure is referred to simply as an adobe, though it may grow to house four generations or generation upon generation, a congregation, a state or local business. The lasting qualities of the old adobes can only be attributed to the massive preponderance of adobe used in both outside and inside wall structure which presents a homogeneous self-supporting unit. For the past thirty years, because of labor costs, and a certain lack of appreciation for adobe a lot of frame and block have been used partially or in complete substitution for adobe. Now there is an upsurge of interest in adobe and in the art and science-of designing and building in adobe. Remodeling an old house built solidly of adobe can be very rewarding in retaining the soft acoustical nature of its structure as well as in maintaining coolness in the summer, warmth in the winter, and in preserving the many other charming qualities for which a real adobe is known.