What makes your home a Green or Healthy Home?
Extensive plants and gardens inside the home in the atrium and greenhouses provide oxygen, humidity and food production resources. No chemical emitting finishes were used in the construction of the home nor in the finishing of the cabinetry. The interior walls are all plaster with no sealants. There is a fresh air/interior air exchange system in the house and guest quarters that exchanges the heat from the outgoing interior air to the incoming fresh air.
This home is represented by Sandra Wright Page, Managing Broker of Prudential North Valley Real Estate of Espanola NM, 505-753-4878 (office). Call Sandra for your tour of the property at 505-690-8373.Property Description
This home was designed and built by the solar/designer owner and his wife with exceptional attention to detail, efficiency, and sustainability. The very ceiling supports (called vigas in the Southwest) were standing dead Engleman Spruce, the counter tops in the kitchen was a walnut tree felled, milled and finished by the owner.
You enter the home on the south side of the building and there are small greenhouses on either side of the front doors. Directly inside the doors, you have entered a flagstone-floored atrium with towering green plants on both sides. The greenhouses open to the atrium and in them grow flowers, tomatoes, lettuces and vegetables all year long.
The garden atrium and the greenhouses bring in solar heat in the winter, add humidity to the dry New Mexico high desert air and also add to the oxygen level in the house which helps at the 6000 elevation.
Beyond the atrium is the open and welcoming living areas of the house . . . living room with fireplace with insert, dining room and kitchen. All the cabinetry was made by the owner, the cookstove is a vintage O'Keefe and Merritt and you also have a wood cookstove built in the 1920s, and purchased from the original owner.
The floors in the house, other than the atrium and greenhouses, are colored concrete with in-floor, solar radiant heat.
To the right of the atrium is the spacious master bedroom with walk-in closets, one for her with a built-in vanity and dressing area and one for him with the tub/shower and laundry.
All of the appliances in the house are high-quality, ultra-high efficiency including the Sunfrost refrigerator and separate Sunfrost freezer and Miele dishwasher.
To the left of the atrium is a large home office (or use it as a second bedroom). The present use as an office has a division that creates a sleeping nook within the room, but that can be used as a large closet, if family needs require the room to be a bedroom.
Off the living room is another office/meditation room space that is also the third bedroom. Present owners have no children at home, so each of the guest bedroom spaces are utilized as office/work spaces.
Across the back of the home with entrances from the living room and kitchen is a large portal with an open-air dining room at one end. This dining room was intended to be a screened-in porch, but the owners never felt the need for the screen.
From this portal is a private entrance for the guest quarters. Included in this space is a full bathroom and an large L-shaped space for guests. There are built-in book shelves and one wall has plumbing for a full kitchen.
The house and guest quarters is tightly constructed and the owner has installed an air exchange system that brings in fresh air and takes out interior air. During this exchange, heat from the interior air is exchanged to the fresh air so there is little heat loss during the exchange.
Beyond the house to the north, irrigated land stretches back to the huge cottonwoods and the 450 feet of frontage on the Rio Grande River. Also, at the river is a boat storage building and a beachfront for picnics and just hanging out and watching the river roll by . . . not to mention fishing in a well-stocked, wild and scenic designated river!
Back at the front of the property by the driveway is the 1672 sq ft garage/workshop/art studio building where the photo voltaic array is located. This system produces 3.15 kw of electricity. Much more than the house utilizes and the owners sell electricity back to the electric cooperative.
For an in-depth article written by the owner/designer check out the following link:
http://ases.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1229&Itemid=23
Neighborhood Description
The neighborhood is a rural setting with lots of open, irrigated fields and communal gardens along the Rio Grande River. There are neighboring houses so it isn't remote, but it does have over 6 acres so it has a feeling of privacy within a friendly community of like-minded families. The area has been known as La Bolsa for many years and also is referred to as Mariposa, so named because of a plant nursery that was once housed nearby.Market Area
Embudo is a small farming community that lays along side of the Rio Grande River south of Taos and north of Santa Fe, New Mexico. It is close to the artists' community of Dixon where there's a great co-op grocery, an elementary school, a post office, gallery and a great restaurant. Dixon is well-known for its annual Dixon Art Studio Tour held every year the first full weekend in November (begun in 1982). Just over 20 scenic miles further north is Taos, New Mexico and sixty miles south is Santa Fe.School District
Community
Location of Home or Land
Rural
Elevation of Home
Mountain
Air Quality
| Agriculture in Area | yes |
| Industry in Area | no |
| Air Pollution in Area | no |
| Pesticide Free | yes |
| Fragrance Free | yes |
| Cleaned with Green Products | yes |
Interior Environment
| Heating System | Fireplace |
| Cooling System | Other |
| Ventilation System | Heat Exchanger |
| Whole House Filtration | Other |
| Whole House Vacuum | no |
Energy & Water
| Energy System | Photovoltaic (PV) |
| Water System | Well |
| Wastewater System | Septic System |
Construction Information
| Exterior Finish | Stucco |
| Interior Finish | Cement Plaster |
| Interior Paint | Other |
| Floor Material | Concrete |
| Roof Material | Other |
| Window Material | Wood Dual Glazed |
| Insulation Material | Urethane Foam |
Garage / Car Port
| Garage / Carport | yes |
| Garage Type | detached |
| Number of Cars | 4 |
| Garage Area | 1672 sqft |
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