355 State Highway 230, Valdez, NM 87580

Luxury River front Home This award-winning, architecturally-designed home is in the most magical Taos County location, the floor of the Valdez valley, with roughly 345 feet of river frontage right on the Rio Hondo. The home, designed by renowned Santa Fe architect Suby Bowden, won the highest award for residential "Design Excellence" in New Mexico in 2009 from The American Institute of Architects. The home has been featured in a cover story in Santa Fe Trend magazine and several other publications. The House The architect's vision for the home was to fuse a contemporary aesthetic with the rural vernacular of Northern New Mexico. The rural pitched roof and two-foot thick rammed earth walls are reconceived in a modern manner. The design is envisioned as a geode, with a textured exterior (achieved by sandblasting the rammed earth walls to reveal the organic lifts of earth into the forms used to frame the walls) juxtaposed with a refined modern design on the inside. Passive solar is incorporated to further energy efficiency and rural tradition. The 3 bed, 2.5 bath main house is just under 5000 square feet and is dominated by mountain views of El Salto to the east with soaring spaces and extensive glass to bring the outside views in. With construction of the highest quality, the home abounds in luxury finishes but also embraces simple materials, such as the polished black concrete floors, for their timeless aesthetic. The main house also features 3 Rumford fireplaces in the great room, den and zaguan (entrance way) that features sliding glass doors that when opened create a delightful breezeway in the summer and when closed create an additional indoor living space. The Casita (Guest House) In contrast, the 896 square foot casita has a Santa Fe-style southwestern design for visitors to enjoy. It's equipped with an executive kitchen and can easily accommodate three guests between the large bedroom and the banco in the living room next to a kiva fireplace. Separated from the main house by a large carport, the casita is intentionally situated to provide privacy for all parties. Please see Virtual Tour link The Riverside Setting The Valdez valley is a lush oasis in the high desert and its riparian environment is visited by abundant wildlife and migratory birds making the location one of the rarest of the county's many ecosystems. Once included on the Los Jardineros Annual Garden Tour, the grounds have several established planting areas that bloom from spring to fall. The sweeping lawn between the house and the river ends at a cantilevered deck over the river. However, much of the vegetation along the river has intentionally been left untouched to encourage wildlife. Nestled among cottonwood trees and all but invisible from New Mexico 230 (the paved state road that runs through the valley) the home is exceptionally private and quiet (other than the sound of the river), yet the driveway to the road is only 1/10 of a mile long (a real convenience in wintertime). The location is less than 20 minutes from both the Town of Taos and the Taos Ski Valley.