Ancient Native Americans from Acoma, Chaco and other pueblo villages in New Mexico understood passive solar design hundreds of years ago and oriented their homes with the path of the sun. They were not the only ones, nor the first, to use these simple design strategies. The principle of sun tempered, solar design is, in fact, universal to all cultures throughout history.
At Sunlight Homes we have continued, and elaborated upon, this ancient tradition, designing passive solar, sun tempered homes for Albuquerque and Santa Fe, Los Alamos, Ruidoso, Angle Fire, Taos, Mountainair and beyond. New Mexico has an ideal climate for passive and active solar homes.
We at Sunlight Homes are native New Mexicans and started our business in Albuquerque in the mid 1970s, helping our neighbors throughout the state take advantage of our abundant sunshine in the design of their new, passive solar homes. Northern New Mexico and towns at higher elevations are particularly well suited for skilled, passive solar design and super insulation since winters are cold and the climate is sunny. The greater the swings in temperature from cold to hot in any climate, the more you can take advantage of super insulation and passive solar design and these same techniques keep our homes cooler in the summer as well. Southern New Mexico has a mix of high mountain towns and low desert plains and temperatures that range from blazing hot in the summer to freezing cold in the winter. They also enjoy a sunny climate, so passive solar design works beautifully from Magdalena to Carlsbad and Las Cruces to Roswell.
Many Sunlight homes in New Mexico are designed in the Southwestern or Pueblo style. Some have flat roofs with vigas, latillas and rounded corners that resemble old, adobe homes in look and feel. Others are Northern New Mexico style, with pitched tin roofs and stucco exteriors. Then there are contemporary adobe-styled Sunlight homes which mix the old with the new; flat roof, pitched metal roofs or a combination of the two. Most have stucco exteriors, but these contemporary adobe-style homes have sharp corners, fewer archways and a cleaner look and feel.
Our agreeable New Mexico climate allows us to design comfortable outdoor spaces that are easily accessible from indoors expanding the living space. When outdoor porches, patios and decks are oriented correctly with the sun, shade and prevailing winds, they are comfortable and inviting for much of the year. Accenting the spaces with native perennials, shrubs and trees can make being outdoors nearly heavenly.
If you have the great fortune to live in New Mexico, we would enjoy working with you to design a Sunlight home that fits your needs and blends with our sunny climate in a natural and effortless way.