BOOK REVIEW — Paul Weideman's ARCHITECTURE Santa Fe: A Guidebook.
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Cover of Architecture Santa Fe, A Guidebook
Paul Weideman's ARCHITECTURE Santa Fe: A Guidebook.
A Book Review by HSFF’s Executive Director Pete Warzel.
Paul Weideman has been attending to this labor of love for the past eight years. Many in Santa Fe know Paul through his writing for the Santa Fe New Mexican – the paper proper, Pasatiempo, and the monthly real estate magazine Home – on architecture, history, and the preservation of the built environment of Santa Fe. At HSFF, we know him for all of that, in addition to his service on the HSFF’s Board of Directors several years ago and his ongoing support of our mission and work.
Architecture Santa Fe: A Guidebook was published in late 2019 and we held a book launch in our sala at 545 Canyon Road on December 17. This book is impeccable. Well written, well-illustrated, extremely well-curated with all styles of architecture in the city, including some very modern designs that are important to include in this guide and to the visual history of the city.
Paul begins with a thorough overview of regional construction from the beginning – prehistoric jacal or puddled adobe in the Santa Fe area, Spanish Pueblo, Territorial, then Pueblo Revival and Territorial Revival styles. Chapter 2 follows with an in-depth review of materials used in construction for Santa Fe architecture, including the primarily unseen but ubiquitous pentile (Santa Fe penitentiary tile – hollow ceramic blocks) that led me to term my home in South Capitol one summer solstice day “the Clay oven.”
Illustration of Oles/THOMPson Residence, Photo by Paul Weideman from Architecture Santa Fe, A Guidebook
Illustration of Santa Fe Community Center, Photo by Paul Weideman from Architecture Santa Fe, A Guidebook
There is a wonderful section of photographs of a home formerly owned by HSFF, the Garcia House on Alto Street. The selection allows those beyond the Foundation’s membership to see the extensive damage to the building that the Foundation repaired and reconstructed in 2015 and 2016. This was an expensive commitment to preservation and efforts that foster great pride in our staff and board. Likewise, Paul includes in this section a very good overview of the extensive work done at El Zaguán including on the drainage in the front, and the lime plaster finish, conducted in 2014-2015.
The following chapters address the history of preservation of the city’s architectural heritage, and then the unfortunate dispute over the historic designation of the Roque Lobato House (or arguably the Sylvanus Morley House, due to the archeologist’s modifications to the property).
Then to the book proper – the individual listings of properties in the Santa Fe area, presented chronologically, each one photographed, and wonderfully described in efficient, short, clear descriptions. Paul’s succinct descriptions of each property are informative, obviously the result of many years of research on the subjects.
Page featuring HSFF’s El ZaguAn, Photo by Paul Weideman from Architecture Santa Fe, A Guidebook
Page featuring Paolo soleri amphitheater, Photo by Paul Weideman from Architecture Santa Fe, A Guidebook
The usual suspects are here – the venerable old homes and churches that populate the historic districts of Santa Fe. But more modern, some very modern properties, take up just short of 50% of the entries. I was appreciative to see and learn the history of Whitin Hall — the odd, large, four story structure at the corner of Garfield and Guadalupe — that fascinates people looking for any semblance of Santa Fe style. This is not that. But, style aside, Whitin Hall is an importanted historical structure. The building housed the first University of New Mexico (1881) with its construction completed in 1887; then closing quickly, only a year later; and the Albuquerque university site founded in 1889. Paul includes the glorious Mid-century Modern Kruger Professional Building, as well as the Spears Architects’ Academy for the Love of Learning, a LEED certified building and a wonderful, peaceful space.
I commend Paul on including an appendix of architects, masons and master builders, presented chronologically again, putting if not faces, at least names, to the building of these wonderful structures in Santa Fe.
Architecture Santa Fe is a great resource for those interested in the architecture, history, and culture of the region. It covers all the bases extremely well, and now is in the back pocket of my driver’s seat, ready for exploration of the places I do not already know.
Architecture Santa Fe: A Guidebook By Paul Weideman
Foreword by Gayla Bechtol, AIA
Running Lizard Press
Paper, 230 pages
$39.95
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Paul Weideman was born in Indianapolis and grew up in Ohio, Michigan, and in Southern Rhodesia, Africa (ages 11-15). He earned bachelor’s degrees in biology (Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo) and editorial journalism (University of Washington, Seattle) and has worked as a journalist since 1984, the last 22 with the Santa Fe New Mexican. In 1996, he married Mary Margaret Vigil, whose parents were members of multigenerational Santa Fe families and who has given him scores of insights about "old Santa Fe" — that is, from the 1950s and 1960s.
Paul's recent awards include a Heritage Preservation Award, presented by the City of Santa Fe in 2011 "for his educational articles on archaeological subjects"; a Cultural Preservation Award, presented by the Old Santa Fe Association in 2015 for his articles "that have consistently emphasized the importance of historical preservation and have educated and enriched the lives of Santa Feans"; and a Service Award presented by the Santa Fe chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 2017 for articles about design and architecture in his "Art of Space" column in Pasatiempo magazine and in the monthly Home/Santa Fe Real Estate Guide.