1) A new heating system was installed throughout the house. The old in-ceiling radiant heat was ill-conceived and fairly nonfunctional. Therefore, we installed 7 new Myson radiant heaters throughout the home.  This entailed ripping up some flooring, troweling into some of the adobe, and adding a brand new boiler and hot water heater. With three new digital thermostats, the house is now warm and cozy.

2) Additional electrical outlets and cable lines were trowled into the adobe walls and then plastered over.  This brought the house up to date and created a great media room.

3) The bedroom was completely renovated.  A Murphy bed was taken out, and a cove for a real bed was created. The washer and dryer and an armoire were also moved out to create more space.

4) New cabinets were built in the kitchen, and a space was created for the washer and dryer. A concrete countertop was custom made to accommodate the cabinets.

5) The entire interior of the house was painted. The paint certainly needed updating as some of the previous colors really detracted from the homes character.

6) All of the floors were refinished and stained. The same stain was used throughout the house to create continuity between rooms.

7) Little clean up projects happened in nearly every room.  Ceilings and Vigas were oiled, dampers were put on all three fireplaces, and touch ups were performed all over the place.

Check out the video below.

To watch the progress of the entire project, click on any of the links below.  It’s amazing how much has changed in such a short amount of time!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Worried that you will now go through withdrawal from a lack of updates on the house?  Don’t despair, we are planning on continuing posts that follow the furnishing and decorating of the house.  Currently, drapes are being made, a bed is being fabricated, chairs and a sofa are on order, and all of our eyes and ears around Santa Fe are looking for some great vintage pieces to fill the space. Updates may be a bit less frequent, but we’ll keep you in the loop.  Until then, Cheers!

Contact Matt Desmond and Ryan Bolton

1) The painting is finished!  Every room has received up to three coats of new white paint, and it’s amazing how different the house looks with all white on the walls.  The rooms feel significantly larger, the floors and ceilings really pop out, and the level of elegance in the home has risen significantly. All of the great details and characteristics of the home are now even more noticeable.

2) All of the new Myson heaters are fully installed and in working order.  Three different digital and programmable thermostats have been wired as well. The house is now warm and cozy!

3) The new cabinets in the kitchen have been installed.  This includes the installation of the washer and dryer and the new concrete counter top.  The concrete was still setting today when we filmed, so over the next day or two the guys will buff it up to bring the color out.

4) The floors have all been sanded and prepped for staining. Previously, the floors were  multiple shades and will now take on a darker stain that will match the vigas above.

5) In general, the guys have cleaned the place up a bit.  The ceilings and vigas have been wiped down and oiled, and many of the little messes here and there are now gone.

 All of the contract work should be finished in the next week.  We will then go into the design phase of the renovation which will entail the installation of window coverings, the building of specific furniture pieces (i.e. the bed), and the entire decorating process. Check back in for updates soon!

Contact Ryan Bolton and Matt Desmond

Another six days has passed since we last checked in on the Palace Avenue renovation. As always, steady progress is being made.  The following items have been the focus of the past week.

1) The cove for the bed is finished! The guys installed recessed reading lights and added light switches on each side of the cove. This entailed trenching into the adobe, running electrical wires, filling the trenched lines, and re-plastering.  It looks great, and we’re now looking forward to configuring the headboard for the bed.

2) Wide plank flooring has been installed in the the Office/Den.  The floor initially had to be completely pulled up to accommodate the new heating lines. The  floor has yet to be sanded, finished, and stained, but that will be done when the rest of the floors are refurbished.

3) Paint, Paint, Paint!  After the walls were primed last week, the guys have started painting almost all of the rooms.  The walls will most likely need at least two coats of paint, and some of the previously “colorful” rooms may need a full three coats.  The white paint really highlights the patina of the old plaster, the details in the vigas, and the character of the floors.

4) The cabinets for the kitchen have  been painted and are now sprawled throughout the house to drying. These should all be installed by the end of the week.

Check back early next week for the 5th installment of our renovation series. 

Contact Ryan Bolton and Matt Desmond

1) The plaster work has been finished in most of the rooms. The cove in the bedroom for the bed has yet to be done, and the kitchen is getting final finishing touches. Before the bed cove can be plastered the contractors need to install two recessed reading lights. They’ll plaster it once the electrical is finished.

2) The entire house except the kitchen has been prepped, primed, and is now ready for paint. The colors in the house were various shades of yellows, pinks, and oranges. The white primer certainly gives it a different look, and we look forward to see how new coats of white paint brighten and add character to the space.

3) The floor that was completely torn up in the office is now ready to be replaced. According to the contractor, this will happen tomorrow!

4) The boiler for the new heaters is almost finished. A couple tweeks here and there and we’re in business. The Myson heaters have arrived and will be installed after the paint and floors are well under way.

Check back in with us later this week for Part 4.

Contact Ryan Bolton and Matt Desmond

1) All of the new lines for electrical outlets and cable were trowelled into the adobe walls, threaded, and then re-plastered. The guys are now in the process of sanding the plaster to make it flush and smooth. The walls will then be ready for paint , although we won’t be painting until work in other areas is done.

2) The plumbing for the washer and drier has been completely installed, and the old plumbing for the bathroom has been buried and plastered over.  We also added a 220 line for the drier in the kitchen. I can’t believe how much more spacious the bedroom feels without the washer, drier, and associated plumbing.  This is going to be a great room.

3) The “mechanical room” is now completely re-walled, insulated, and stuccoed. Additionally, all of the lines for the new boiler and hot water heater are set up.  The installation of these items should take place over the next two days, which means we may have heat by late next week (depending on when the actual heat units come in)!

4) Minor prep work has been done on some of the floors, getting them ready to be either be reinstalled, refinished, or both.

Check in early next week for the latest on the house.

Contact Ryan Bolton and Matt Desmond

The changes currently being made to the house are:

1) The in-ceiling radiant heating is being replaced with new Myson radiant heaters. Installing these in each room entails replacing the hot water heater with a boiler and new, smaller hot water heater, running tubing throughout the house, and placing and connecting the new heaters.  As can be seen in the video, the floor in one of the rooms has  been completely torn out to create a trench for the new plumbing coming from the boiler.  Additionally, the “shed” that housed the old hot water heater is being expanded to fit the new boiler and heater. These heaters are significantly more efficient and have a nice clean look to them.

2) The washer and dryer are being moved from the bedroom to the kitchen. This will create more space in the bedroom and utilize space in the kitchen.  All of the old plumbing is being taken out and hidden behind plaster and new plumbing is being set up in the kitchen to accomodate the washer hookup.

3) A murphy bed and built in armoire in the bedroom are also being removed to create a better space. 

4) A media room is being created by adding outlets and a cable hook up.  This may sound simple, but in an all adobe house it can be a bit challenging.  The contractor is “trenching” new wiring and connections into the adobe, which will then be plastered and painted later. Other rooms are getting additional outlets as well.

Check back soon to see Part #2!

Contact Ryan and Matt

Those are some of the recollections the Historic Santa Fe Foundation plans to mine in a series of “intimate fireside interviews” early this year. Four longtime residents will speak on the first and third Thursdays of January and February, all at 5:30 p.m. at El Zaguan, 545 Canyon Road. Foundation staffer Libby Reinish will begin with a few questions for each participant, then turn over the questioning to the audience. The questions and responses will be recorded.

Former mayor Joseph Valdes will begin Thursday by discussing his childhood home, his two stints as mayor and the legacy of his ancestors. In an interview Tuesday, Valdes, 79, recalled growing up at his family home at 239 E. De Vargas St., which most recently housed the Mission Cafe that closed at the end of October. Valdes said the property originally belonged to his grandfather, Manuel Valdes, who lived in the long part of the building in back. His son, Joseph Valdes’ father, built a place in the front where Joseph grew up.

Manuel Valdes was the second student to register at the newly formed St. Michael’s College in 1859, after attending Archbishop Jean Baptiste Lamy’s Latin school, Joseph Valdes said. He said his grandfather later was an accountant for the Spiegelberg family merchants, country treasurer and assessor, a traveling messenger for Lamy and Santa Fe’s second mayor in 1892. Although De Vargas Street is now part of downtown Santa Fe, Valdes said when he was growing up, it was strictly residential. “In those days, you didn’t go to town unless you went on an errand,” he said. “You just didn’t hang out. … You didn’t all of a sudden go to town on a whim.” Valdes said he plans to talk about his childhood, his two terms as mayor from 1972-76, and the 62 years he has worked in the paint and glass business in Santa Fe. He said he also will bring along his collection of vintage postcards on Santa Fe.

Valdes’ interview will be followed by:

• Ray Vigil on Jan. 21 with childhood memories of Canyon Road, Catholic school and his encounters with Georgia O’Keeffe and John Gaw Meem.

• Jean Seth on Feb. 4 with her observations of Santa Fe’s changing landscape and her role in the development of the Canyon Road arts scene.

• Roberto Moya on Feb. 18 will talk about his family’s ownership of El Zaguan, now the foundation’s headquarters, in the early 19th century.

Admission is free, but seating is limited to 22 spaces. For reservations, call the foundation at 983-2567.

Story By: Tom Sharpe | The New Mexican