What makes your home a Green or Healthy Home?
25" solid adobe walls are surrounded by insulated, R19, 2x6 stud walls. With sheathing and stucco, the exterior walls are about 32" thick. The house is basically 225,000 pounds of adobe surrounded by insulated walls. The roof is insulated with R38 fiberglas batts. To support the weight, the footings are quite massive and they are insulated down 4 feet with 2" rigid insulation. Sunlight enters the house through six-6 foot wide sliding glass doors which heat the walls and brick floors. Winter wall temperatures will be between 68 to 78 degrees. The same sliding glass doors can be opened in summer to cool the house, Summer wall temperatures are around 65 to 70 degrees. Insulated window coverings triple the R value of the double paned wood windows and can be used to hold heat on winter nights or reflect heat in summer.
Water heating is accomplished with a 44 gallon tank in a skylight. This preheats the water and then it is brought to full heat by a propane, "on demand" water heater. Summertime water heating can be 100% solar.
Most of our cooking is done on the wood-burning cook stove. There is a propane cook top in the kitchen. The cook stove in the kitchen and parlor stove in the living room can heat the house when the walls cool after too many cloudy days.
Living in the house full time, the only fossil fuels we use are about 40 gallons of propane per year out of the 500 gallon underground tank.
Electrical power is provided by two Zomeworks trackers equipped with ten 130 watt Kyocera panels on each tracker. One tracker runs the well with 12 Surrette 4v, 546 AH 4-CS-17PS batteries (about1540 Amp-Hours). The other tracker runs the house with 18 Surrette 4v, 546 AH 4-CS-17PS batteries (about 2310 Amp-Hours).Property Description
Attention to detail and superb craftsmanship are hallmarks of this northern New Mexico solar and off-grid ranch house.
View the video tour at: https://vimeo.com/195321999
Aerial Video: https://vimeo.com/314670203
At 7,700 feet elevation, it is set on 200 acres of piñon, juniper, and sagebrush, and bordered on the north and south by Carson National Forest. Designed and lovingly hand-built by a licensed architect, this immaculate house is 2,258 square feet, has 25 inch thick adobe walls surrounded by 2x6 insulated stud walls, with double paned wood windows, making it snug and warm during the winter and cool in the summer. The pro panel metal pitched roof provides all-weather durability. Ground floors are brick on slab-on-grade. Upstairs floors are 3/4 inch sold oak. The spacious kitchen has ample Kraft-Maid maple cabinets with Corian countertops, a Waterford wood burning cookstove, Summit electric refrigerator, and a propane cook top. Satellite internet and television keep you in touch with the world. A washer and dryer are located in the oversized, finished and insulated 2 car garage. A 70 square foot redwood greenhouse attached to the garage is a great place to start vegetables and flowers in the spring.
A 1,200 foot private well produces five gallons per minute with its own solar-electric system. Two 3,000 gallon storage tanks insure an ample supply of water for inside and outside use. Hot water is provided by an Aquastar on-demand propane water heater with solar-assist.
The 200 acres is comprised of five lots of roughly 40 acres each. 4 of the 5 lots have access to electrical service, should you choose to develop them separately. Covenants provide for five horses per 40 acre lot for private use.
Electrical service on two sides of the property allows this off-grid home to be easily transformed into a grid-tie system offering the option of selling electricity back to the electrical coop.
Property taxes for 2017 were $2346.53. The Servilleta Subdivision has no Home Owners Association.
This extraordinary property is 20 minutes from Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort and Spa, 35 minutes from the Cumbres-Toltec Scenic Railroad, and an hour from Taos Ski Valley.
If you have ever dreamed of owning a slice of the American West with easy access to all of northern New Mexico and southern Colorado, Big Sage will be a great fit!
Being off-grid, the power outages that seem to be common in rural New Mexico, are a thing of the past here at Big Sage. You have the best of what nature has to offer, plus a beautiful home in which to retreat at the end of the day. We love having breakfast on the covered porches which wrap around the north and east sides of the house, and watching the abundant bird and animal life that frequent this area. Hang hummingbird feeders under the eaves in the summer, and you will have hundreds of birds feeding and entertaining you. The howl of coyotes and brilliant stars (miles from any light pollution) make the nights extraordinary. This is a nature lover's and outdoor enthusiast's paradise.
Neighborhood Description
The house sits on 200 acres bordered north and south by the Carson National Forest. The Sevilleta Subdivision consists of about Sixty 40 acre lots, five of which make up this 200 acres property. This land was homesteaded in the 1920's and was a cattle ranch before being subdivided. It is a short drive to Ojo Caliente Hot Springs and Spa, the Cumbres and Toltec Railroad, and Taos Ski Valley. The Chile Line Narrow Gauge bed (the rails were pulled up in the 1940's) runs through the property.Market Area
The closest cities are Antonito, Colorado, about 35 miles north, Taos, about 40 miles to the east, Espanola, 40 miles south and Santa Fe, about 70 miles to the south.School District
The property is in the Mesa Vista School DistrictCommunity
The Tres Piedras Community is quite small, with a Post Office and Cafe.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 | no |
| Cleaned with Green Products | yes |
Interior Environment
| Heating System | Solar - Passive |
| Cooling System | Passive Cooling |
| Ventilation System | Other |
| Whole House Filtration | Other |
| Whole House Vacuum | no |
Energy & Water
| Energy System | Photovoltaic (PV) |
| Water System | Well |
| Wastewater System | Septic System |
Construction Information
| Construction Type | Adobe |
| Exterior Finish | Metal Stucco Wood |
| Interior Finish | Earthen Plaster |
| Interior Paint | Other |
| Floor Material | Other |
| Roof Material | Metal |
| Window Material | Wood Dual Glazed |
| Insulation Material | Fiberglass |
Garage / Car Port
| Garage / Carport | yes |
| Garage Type | attached |
| Number of Cars | 2 |
| Garage Area | 728 sqft |
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