Grand Hacienda, indeed
Lightfoot Inc. wins top prize in Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association annual Parade of Homes
Given the scope of his project, Scott Cherry of Lightfoot Inc. didn’t really think he would be in the running for the top award in the annual Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association Parade of Homes. For one thing, the event was virtual this year, so many of the intricate details that he includes in his work would have been easy to overlook.
And, secondly, the Grand Hacienda Award usually goes to big, splashy homes with all the latest and greatest conveniences.
Lightfoot, however, did a gut-and-remodel on about a 400-square-foot dining room/hallway extension on the historical house on Alto Street that was once owned by former interim New Mexico governor Donaciano Vigil.
Believed to have been built in the 1830s, the remodel was completed using as many techniques in keeping with its historical presence, Cherry said.
Along the way, he incorporated a method of light-straw clay construction that is less dense than straw-bale construction and heartier than traditional adobe construction.
“I had done a project with them (the owners) before, so I got involved really early, before the point of purchase,” Cherry said. “I worked with the homeowner to redesign the footprint and integrate the light-straw clay into the addition in what I call a very contrived manner. We collaborated on the design to meet his needs as a residence, but keeping the integrity of the building intact.”
The idea wasn’t to overbuild, but to surgically transform the building into a modern, functional home with a colorful past.
“We didn’t come in there and max out the building footprint,” Cherry said. “We added on to it in areas that it already had been added on to. We honored its historical integrity, but adapted it to be functional and livable.”
Cherry started working in Santa Fe as a carpenter in 1993 before opening Lightfoot in 2008 “as a design-build company using natural material in highperformance structures that are really energy efficient,” he said.
“I found myself doing a lot of designing while I was working, having to design solutions to problems and it was always a very organic process working with adobe because there are no straight lines,” Cherry said. “It’s not like not 2 x 4 and sheet rock. You have to adapt to what’s
existing there because the walls aren’t always straight.”
Lightfoot also has done a number of historic restorations and preservations of adobe homes. So, working on the Vigil structure was a perfect blend of the company’s strengths.
“I like that melding of really refined carpentry and connecting that melding to very curvy, organic walls,” he said. “I think it’s really interesting and always fun to do that; that’s where I started.”
Still, earning the Grand Hacienda Award — as well as
the category 3 Most Innovative award — was not really something he thought would be on the agenda.
“I wasn’t surprised because I feel like we did a really good job. We paid exceptional attention to detail. The company is founded on craftsmanship,” Cherry said. “But what I’ve seen typically win the Grand Hacienda, in that respect I was surprised. We had some really innovative, nuanced designs. It’s a small house by today’s standards. I think we used the space very well.”