From Location Purchase to
All-New Home
When clients of general contractor and custom home builder Tent Rock Inc. purchased a 1950s traditional eastside Santa Fe home and casita, they prioritized the location — specifically its proximity to local restaurants. But the residence itself didn’t fit the clients’ lifestyle, which involved frequently welcoming family and friends. Updating the home required the award-winning builders with nearly 30 years of experience in Santa Fe to conduct a full gut remodel.
The main home received structural upgrades, including a new roof, new electrical components, and new plumbing, necessary to create a comfortable, modern home. Tent Rock worked with Richard Martinez of Martinez Architecture Studio to plan a 900-square-foot addition, maximizing the property’s outdoor space and still including courtyards.
Prior to the remodel, the home had many elevation changes between various living and sleeping spaces. The remodel put everything on a single level, allowing for more flow between different areas in the home. New windows and doors brought in natural light and contributed to the floorplan flow, but six structural steel lintels were needed to support them.
Interior designer Susan Trowbridge, principal of S. Trowbridge & Co., added details that provided character and personality, such as nichos, consistent with the home’s style. She in turn brought in artisan Leonel Capparelli of Hands of America to provide distinctive woodworking in these spaces. The living room/dining room fireplace, which previously had a standard shape and brick facade, was remade into a trapezoidal structure, creating a new focal point in that space and the residence as a whole.
The updates transformed the home into one with a welcoming ambience and homey gathering spaces — just what the clients were looking for.
