Albuquerque has been a desirable residence for 25,000 years, serving as home to Sandia Man (Ice Age), and Folsom Man 15,000 years later. Three thousand years ago, Indians built stone and adobe cities while farming the Rio Grande bosque. Spanish missionaries and explorers roamed the area in the 1530’s, long before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. The Spanish, Indian and Anglo cultures give Albuquerque an enchanting blend of interests and activities.

Albuquerque is a Southwest hub, situated at the intersection of I-25 and I-40. The current metro population is estimated to be over 600,000, which is about one-third of the population of the state (1,653,000 people). It is the 38th largest city in the country in terms of population. The pre-World War II population was only 35,000.

Albuquerque is roughly 133 square miles. The elevation ranges from 4,900 to 6,500 feet above sea level making it the highest metropolitan city in the United States. The elevation is one reason why colors seem so intense by day and stars so clear at night.

The metropolitan area of Albuquerque includes the city of Albuquerque, the surrounding areas of Bernalillo County, and the communities of Rio Rancho and Corrales in neighboring Sandoval County. Albuquerque is divided into four quadrants. Central Avenue is the dividing line for north and south. The railroad tracks serve as the dividing line for east and west. Each quadrant has unique character-rich qualities.

Albuquerque enjoys four distinct seasons, but all are characterized by sunny days. Summer temperatures rarely rise out of the 90’s. The annual rainfall averages about eight inches a year. The humidity averages a comfortable 43%. Although Albuquerque receives snow several times each winter, annual snowfall averages a total of only 10 inches, which melts quickly. The mountains to the east of the city act as a shield, protecting it from most arctic air masses and tornado activity.

New Mexican Architectural Styles

Pueblo: This Spanish word for town has a more complex meaning
in New Mexico architecture. A Pueblo is an energy efficient system
of maximizing building shape, orientation and materials.

Hacienda: A building structure made of connected rooms that create a central miniature plaza, or plazuela.

Placita: This is a small patio-like area formed by two or more walls of the home.

Revival Styles of Northern New Mexico

Territorial Style: The mid-1800s brought a combination of traditional flat-roofed adobe construction with provincial Greek Revival details such as white porch posts with capitals, moldings, triangular pedimented lintels over doors and windows, and fired brick cornices capping walls. Introduced along with this style were glass windows, milled lumber, fired brick, the central-hallway house plan, and pitched roofs. Usually the structure was adobe walls with a few fired brick details.

Pueblo Spanish Revival style: About 1905, builders began to revive the flat-roofed, stuccoed cubic forms of the Pueblo and Spanish Colonial traditions. Sometimes called the Pueblo Revival, the style draws terraced, multi-story forms from Pueblo villages, and portales, corbels, corner fireplaces, and mission towers from the Spanish Colonial architecture of the state. Therefore, this is more accurately called the Pueblo Spanish Revival.

Territorial Revival style: Beginning in the early 1930s, architects revived the territorial era vocabulary of flat-roofed, stuccoed forms with white, classical details and red brick cornices atop walls. Used primarily in house design and at the state capitol complex, the revival omits the pitched roofs that were part of the mid-1800s territorial style.

Nicho:

A recessed area in a wall used to hold lamps, candles, religious statues, and other ornamentation.

Portals:

This covered porch, often running the entire length of the building or between two wings, is supported by vertical posts, often topped with corbels or zapatas. Vigas or milled beams provide the top structure, extending from the side walls of the main structure. In historical times, the top of the portal was finished like the roof of a room or covered with cut branches, easily removed in the winter to allow more sun to be absorbed by the building's walls.

Canales:

This drain spout carries water from the building.

Corbel:
A carved, and sometimes painted wooden bracket used under ceiling beams or vigas,. A double corbel bracket, sometimes called a zapata, is typically placed atop the log posts of portals.

Fireplaces:

Kiva:

This term is most appropriately used to define a Native American place of worship and ceremony. In this structure, fires were in pits under the smoke hole in the ceiling. However, in more modern times the term kiva is used to define a certain type of fireplace. This fireplace, introduced during Spanish Colonial time, is found in the corner of the room and is bee hive in shape, almost as an extension of the adobe walls. Typically, a kiva has a low hearth rising 6" - 10" from the floor. The flue is round or square, sometimes with a smoke shelf but in Spanish colonial time, there was no damper. In many cases, due to the shape and limited depth of the firebox, wood is stacked vertically against the back corner of the firebox. There is no applied mantel but one that is integral to the adobe which creates the exterior of the kiva.

Latillas (also spelled latias):

Small wood pieces, milled or not, cut to fit between vigas or beams. If placed at a 45-degree angle to the vigas or beams, a herringbone effect is created. This architectural detail which enhances the appearance of the ceiling was historically installed to help prevent dirt from shifting down from the thick dirt roof. This was achieved by placing layers of thatch-like grass above the latillas and below the layer of earth that created the roof.

Paredcito:

When a kiva-type fireplace is to be placed in the middle of the room and not in a corner, a low wall, or paredcita, is built out from the wall of the building and the fireplace, is then placed in this faux corner of the room. In New Mexico, this is sometimes referred to incorrectly as a padrecito, or little father fireplace.

Ramada:

Like a portal, this structure provides shelter from the elements and is built of posts and beams, and though the top has openings to the sky, it is often covered to provide storage. Unlike a portal, a ramada is detached from and set apart from the house.