A FRESH FACE FOR THE PINO HOUSE

A Recap of Our Summer Trades Intern’s Projects by Mara Saxer

The Pino House, located on the grounds of El Rancho de las Golondrinas living history museum in La Cienega, is the most recent addition to the Historic Santa Fe Foundation’s Register of Properties Worthy of Preservation as of this writing, our 100th property. In the process of putting together the nomination, another collaboration was developed, in which HSFF’s Faith and John Gaw Meem Preservation Trades Intern for 2019, Ramon Dorado, gained hands on adobe construction experience by restoring the Pino House to a mud plaster finish.

Ramon spent the majority of his 10-week internship at Las Golondrinas, first removing the modern cement stucco, then repairing any damage to the adobes beneath it before applying a mud plaster made from local dirt dug near the site, as it would have been at the time of construction. The building is thought to have been plastered in mud or lime originally, or possibly both during different eras. He also repaired the stone foundation, repointing the mortar with a traditional lime material.

The refinishing of the exterior of the building is only the beginning of many changes to come for the Pino House. For many years it has been used as a utilitarian space by the museum, sometimes offices and sometimes storage, and thought of as outside the museum exhibit as its date of construction (1919-20) fell well outside the age range of interpretation (early 1700s). Its exact use remains undecided, but while it will always be different from the majority of the museum, it is being increasingly seen as worthy of preservation and attention in its own right.

Ramon spent some time between phases of the Pino House Project back at the HSFF mothership, El Zaguán, working on the building. He participated in the ongoing work on our entry wall along Canyon Road, as well as some adobe repair and mud touch up work on our workshop building. Another collaborative project was done with La Sala de San José in Galisteo, where we removed and restored a set of historic wood window sash. The caretakers of La Sala have been gradually working through the restoration of their windows, and we plan to continue to partner with them in this endeavor – that includes Ramon himself, who is a recent graduate of the UNM School of Architecture masters program, and intends to continue working in architecture and preservation in New Mexico. HSFF looks forward to more collaborations with Ramon and to seeing what he accomplishes next!