# 11 Yazdec Construction

El Retiro (The Retreat), the smallest house on the parade, is built on a subdivided infill lot in the historic Barrio Guadalupe neighborhood. Homeowner and award-winning architect John B. Hertz designed the home, which lies doors away from a property his family rented some 50 years ago when they first visited Santa Fe and began thinking of it as a place to return to. The two-bedroom, two-bathroom home evokes traditional architectural forms of Northern New Mexico through the motif of the parapet walls, which pay homage to the historic architecture along Guadalupe Avenue and the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. The home harmonizes these traditional forms with contemporary touches. It has 13-foot whitewashed ceilings, hand-mudded interior plastered walls, and natural concrete floors. The residence is built around a private, sun-lit patio bordered by a long south-facing portal. It maximizes interior space with pocket doors, many cabinets and closets for interior storage, and a combination heat pump-washer/dryer. It is also a sustainable, net-zero home.