Sunday, November 7, 2004

5,000-Square-Foot House Designed for Entertaining

By Jane Mahoney
For the Journal
    There's something sensual about an Altair house. From softly curved adobe bancos to smooth, plastered walls that gleam with a hard diamond finish, an Altair house invites touches and lingering glances.
    Altair Homes founders Mitch and Terri Yoakum, now in their 27th year of business, regard their houses as works of art.
    "We treat a home like a living sculpture," said Mitch Yoakum, who studied art and architecture at the University of New Mexico. Yoakum's affinity for adobe shines through in the details of the couple's 5,000-square-foot model home on Quaking Aspen NE in the High Desert subdivision. From a massive, swirling, hand-sculpted fireplace to a glistening, rounded adobe wall that curves alongside the staircase leading upstairs, the Yoakums design it all.
    "I worked with adobes as a little kid," said Mitch Yoakum, who cut his developer's teeth in his uncle's construction business. "As a building material, adobe is unlimited. You can shape it and carve it. You can hand-chisel a design to create swirling shapes. I love integrating old techniques with modern technology."
    The house, on a 1-acre lot with mountain and city views, is in a style the couple call "indigenous New Mexican." It incorporates the best of both traditional and contemporary Southwest elements.
    Like all Altair houses, it started with a visit to the site to study the land and the views.
    "We've learned to visualize a home by standing on the lot," said Terri Yoakum. "Mitch is very good at seeing proportions in his mind's eye. In this house, the arch of the windows follows the shape of the mountains. That's how this house started."
    The Sandia Mountains— from base to sky— are what greet visitors stepping into the front entry. The mountain itself becomes the artwork framed in picture windows that subtly follow the same shape as the range. Even the great room's ceiling, constructed with massive, round 18-inch vigas and split-cedar planking, forms a gentle arch to mimic the rugged views. The swirling, hand-sculpted, adobe fireplace with its curved nichos and cubbyholes looks as if canyon winds could have shaped it over centuries.
    "We try to bring in the outside," said Mitch Yoakum. "That's a main touch with our houses."
    Rounded edges are part of the charm of this house. "But we want to make the curves functional," said Terri Yoakum, explaining the couple's affinity for built-in adobe features ranging from bancos (bench seating) to undulating shelves and nichos that are carved into the walls.
    "Fun and flair. It makes such an impact. You'll notice we need minimal furniture in this house."
    This is a house in which some walls literally glow, finished as they are with three coats of soft plaster, then beeswax. The house has an upstairs master suite, a ground-floor guest suite, a games room large enough for a pool table, and a home office comfortably large enough for two.
    Flagstone floors, knotty alder kitchen cabinets, a flagstone outdoor table, a curving spruce banister and tumbled marble bathroom countertops show the natural materials the Yoakums incorporate into the three to five houses they build each year.
    "Details, details," said Terri Yoakum. "That's what makes an Altair home unique."
    There's the Mitch-designed viga grid that appears to float over the dining area and draws diners' eyes upward to a rounded skylight. There's the built-in cherrywood cabinets that follow the curve and climb of the staircase. There's the baker's pantry in the kitchen that, with the simple sliding of a built-in cabinet door, conceals electric mixers, bowls, and canisters of sugar and flour. There's the shelving just inside the garage entry to accommodate purses, mail and tennis bags.
    Each house is as unique as its site, said Mitch Yoakum. "If the lot is great, we know we're off on a new adventure."
    Though the couple live in this house, it is for sale and available for viewing by appointment by calling 797-2111.
   
ESTIMATED MONTHLY PAYMENTS
    (includes estimated taxes and insurance)
    For $1.3 million house (5,000 square feet): $7,249.99
    Assumptions: 20 percent down; 5.75 percent, 30-year conventional mortgage
    Source: Mace Kochenderfer, Anchor Mortgage Group
    CUSTOM FEATURES
    Flagstone floors
    Adobe fireplace and handmade built-ins
    European plumbing fixtures and hardware
    Kitchen with island, designed for entertaining
    Outdoor grill and entertaining area
    HEATING/COOLING
    Radiant floor heat; refrigerated air
    INSULATION VALUES
    R-38 in the roof, R-23 in the walls