Rocky Mountain News — Multilevel charmer has passive solar heat (Karen Terry)

By Marjorie Barrett, News Staff — Rocky Mountain News (Denver), April 26, 1980. Santa Fe.

Karen Terry has built one of the most widely publicized homes in New Mexico — a multilevel charmer in Santa Fe which was the second passive solar house built in New Mexico. Her home dates to 1974. The house reflects Terry’s ideas even though the architectural design was done by David Wright, a Californian who is considered to be one of the leading passive solar architects in the country.

Terry, like her house, is extraordinarily individualistic — a bit shy around strangers but a woman with great personal appeal once the ice is broken — an individual with a burning intensity and an off-beat sense of humor. She also has a strong capacity for hard work. Terry, primarily because of her own home, often is contacted by people anxious to see the house and to talk to her. The calls come from all over the world. “Last summer I went to France and all the people I had met (through the house) gave me a wonderful time,” Terry recalled. The day of the interview she was contacted by a party from Denmark anxious to see the house and to talk with her about passive solar and design. Such things are fun for the Santa Fean but they don’t pay the bills or attract new business for the New Mexican contractor.

Terry didn’t think that she was going to open a whole new world for herself when she tackled the construction of her own home. “I wanted to build a house, that’s all,” she said quietly. “My mother had given me this land and it had grown valuable and I couldn’t just put up any old plastic thing.” Terry thought she wanted solar and she was directed to Bill Lumpkins, an architect in New Mexico often referred to as the “grandfather of solar” in his part of the world. “I had drawn a picture of what I needed,” she said. “I thought I wanted a Navajo hogan cut in half with the south end glass.” Lumpkins directed Terry to architect Wright, then living in New Mexico, who after asking her to wait a while came up with a variation of his own house incorporating many of Terry’s ideas.

“It’s full of solar mistakes,” she said looking around. “You have to remember the technology on passive solar wasn’t very refined back then. The one thought was to provide enough heat, to provide maximum heat gain. Actually the house has too much gain, too much glass.” As a result the house often becomes too warm in winter and vents and windows must be opened. In summer Terry must install shades to keep the house cool.

Terry thought she would save money by building the house herself. She hired Tom Brady whose only experience had been that he had assisted in the building of a house. “It took the two of us nine months,” she said. Terry used the money she had earned fishing in Alaska to finance the construction.

The house can best be described as working on the same principle as a thermos bottle. “The house has no backup system,” Terry said. “I jumped into it but I was scared. I have a wood stove that I have only used four or five times in the six years I have had the house. I build a fire in the fireplace sometimes for aesthetic reasons as much as anything. Actually, the house performs incredibly well.”

The house actually has less than 1,000 square feet yet gives the impression of being more than double that size. It is on a series of levels. On the topmost level there is the loft sleeping area reached by a ladder. The next level contains a distinctive bath including a homemade tile sunken tub, and a large dressing and closet area. The third level is the principal living level with the entry, the living room with kiva fireplace, the dining space and the kitchen. The fourth level is a large greenhouse complete with brick floors. In fact, brick is the medium used on all floors.

Terry is a one-time Denverite who studied art at the University of Denver. She worked for a time at Crested Butte Ltd. in its early stages and then worked for Merrill Hastings on Skiing magazine. Her son, now a pilot in American Samoa, was educated at Graland. Today Terry has her own construction company and only accepts jobs that make sense to her.

Photo captions

Karen Terry’s home in Santa Fe is a multilevel charmer with passive solar heat.
Karen Terry at combination dining table-desk in kitchen/living area of her house.
Ladder leads to sleeping loft on topmost level of four-level home.
View of greenhouse from Terry home’s living area.
Homemade tile sunken tub (background) in bathroom.
News photos by Mel Schieltz.

Source: Rocky Mountain News (Denver), April 26, 1980 — “Multilevel charmer has passive solar heat” by Marjorie Barrett. OCR text from Colorado Historic Newspapers, lightly corrected for legibility; original may contain OCR errors. Persistent link: https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=RMD19800426-01.2.443