Windmill Ranches

This house contains 1750 heated square feet specially designed to accommodate a "semi-retiring" professional couple. Although the house is located on a tract of land far from "civilization," high-speed satellite internet was installed as well as cat6 wiring (phone, Ethernet, and networking capabilities) in each room to permit this couple to continue their work at home. In this case, one of the homeowners is a college professor at Texas Tech University and continues to give classes via internet from the study built for her in this house.

2 bedrooms, a study, built-in book shelving, a detached garage with a large covered breezeway are included in this layout. A circular breakfast nook is located adjacent to the porch and permits the owner to view the landscape during any season through both fixed and casement windows. An expansive deck features redwood flooring with a redwood "barrel" custom hot tub that has been sunken into the deck flooring. We also incorporated Feeney cable rails in to the hand railing so as to not obstruct the view of the surrounding landscape. This deck was built for them to watch the sunrise with coffee or enjoy a glass of wine during those beautiful nights in the southern New Mexico mesas where the stars are unobstructed by any city lights. The exterior veneer is synthetic stucco and metal roofing, which allows them very minimal maintenance. The windows are wood, stained and lacquered on the inside, and metal clad on the outside to match the metal roof.

This couple wanted to build a house that used very low energy and desired to incorporate the sun's natural phases to provide solar energy and maintain natural light and heat in the house. The house has many energy saving features including high-efficient windows, R-23 exterior wall insulation & R-38 ceiling insulation, and variable speed furnaces.

Using engineered rafters in the roof allowed us to create a unique vaulted space in the living room that the owners wanted to continue into the master bedroom. The vaulted ceiling also allowed for the installation of windows located high in the walls. Numbering 17 in total, these evenly spaced and sized windows allowed light to enter the house from all angles. Another interesting feature is that 3 of the 17 windows are casement and operable with a remote control to allow for a natural breeze of mountain air to come through the house. The vaulted ceiling also features stained and lacquered wood that is installed to conform with the varying angles and pitches of the roof.

As with all of the wood work that we install, the staining process is a custom process and varies between each client, according to preference. A variety of finished stain colors can be achieved in order to meet the discretion of any palette. In this case, an Early American Minwax stain was applied on the moulding, solid-core pine interior doors, wood windows, and T&G ceiling because the owners requested a stain that had a caramel brown tint, wasn't too dark, and had some auburn touches in the finished look. In many cases, owners prefer their woodwork to be stained to match the kitchen cabinetry. However in this case, the owners preferred the natural hickory cabinets which allowed for a contrast with the darker stain applied on the interior wood work.

A two-sided gas fireplace separates the living room and the master bedroom so that the owners could enjoy the fire's ambience whether relaxing in the living room or settling in for the evening. A stone veneer and cedar mantle accentuate the fireplace on both sides to allow for personal decor. Another feature this couple included in this house is a 220 Volt hookup for a Recreational Vehicle they own. They also finished the detached garage with built-in workbenches and a mudroom with a deep sink for landscaping, gardening, or workshop projects that get messy.