Acequia Madre Historic Renovation and Addition

This was another big project done and accomplished by Gayla Bechtol in 2012. It included two different homes on a single portion, divided by a property wall. One of the houses was a Territorial Revival model built roughly in 1900-20 plus/minus, with additions at about 1960. The other one was a Spanish Pueblo Revival-Old Santa Fe home erected at around 1902, with renovations in 1920 and 1940.

The owner wanted Gayla Bechtol to join the two distinctly diverse styles together, with a modern addition to meet specific needs for walls, light, and space. The new architectural design and restoration honored the two existing styles, hence conserving the historic face of Santa Fe and bringing new additions to the sidewalk to affirm the existing streetscape.

The design also preserves the property’s primary facade, and where possible, they replaced the existing windows and doors with Territorial partitioned light windows. They also removed the recently added adobe wall to offer a large central garden that joins the two homes.

This renovation attracted the Architectural Preservation Award from the Historic Design Review Board City of Santa Fe and the Distinguished Architectural Award from The New Mexico Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) to the Gayla Bechtol.