This contemporary Santa Fe home is sited on a hilltop with 360 degree views, with doors out of every room. But the connection from inside the original house to outside was separated by stairs that dropped abruptly off to the landscape without any elegant transition. To solve this, we developed a series of descending terraces for the clients that wrap the house and reconnect the inside with outside.

As a part of this terrace design, we designed conveyance troughs and surfaces to deliberately carry stormwater run-off to specific planters around the property in order to benefit a new planting palette. House canales feed stormwater down rain chains and into covered troughs that take the water to new trees which will provide much needed shade on the western side of the residence.

A new steel shade structure and outdoor fireplace used for outdoor dining is on a raised stabilized crusher fine terrace. This creates a large exterior living space along the wildflower meadow to the west. A pool cabana with an outdoor kitchen, living room, and bath give the clients a place to relax by the pool on a hot sunny day.