30 Dec Drawing a Line

Laura and Randy Elia loved their new Santa Fe home so much that they moved out of it two weeks after moving in and stayed with friends nearby where they could watch it via remote camera.

From their classically appointed dining room with Tonoitalia Corda chairs and Manutti Trento table, the couple enjoys a six-foot millstone fountain, where birds often gather.

The reason they left their five-bedroom house just days after the furniture was placed and paintings were hung was because it had a starring role in the 33rd annual Parade of Homes. For this event, sponsored by the Santa Fe Home Builders Association, the Elia’s architect and builder, Gabriel Brown, principal of locally-based Praxis, knew that the house would be a strong contender for a prize. His instincts proved right: After some 3,000 people in slip-on booties had trooped through the home, it was awarded “Excellence in Architectural Design.”

A hallway leading to the house’s guest wing features walls lined with a variety of works, mainly purchased in Mexico City.

An aerial view of the ipe-wood-clad deck that features a hot tub.

Laura Elia, a successful interior designer with more than two decades working in Dallas, took on the design of their Santa Fe home. She recalls their architect approaching them to include their project in the Parade. “Gabriel said he thought our home was a jewel and that we should show it off.” He was right. After the Parade was over, they received many accolades from visitors.

Intriguing fiber art by Ukrainian artist Olha Slepa and whimsical cowpokes by Texas artist Bruce Lee Webb adorn another hallway.

The home’s front door is framed by glass and steel.

Randy, who recently retired as a branding and advertising executive, and Laura live fulltime in Dallas, but they’d always been attracted to the scenery and cultural vibe of Santa Fe. “We’re really trying to figure out,” says Randy, “whether to consider our Santa Fe place our second home or our primary one. The more time we spend here, the more we love it.” Adds Laura, “Jokingly, we’re now calling Dallas our second home.”

The couple, parents of grown twins, purchased two adjacent lots in a new development in Santa Fe, a city with woefully few new building sites. What had once been ranchland is now being sensitively developed into a residential community. The Elias’ site sits atop an arroyo, allowing for extra-panoramic views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, but to build on the land there meant adhering to stringent height limitations. To maximize the house’s footprint while honoring building codes, the foundation was sunk several feet into the ground, making some of the resulting living and outdoors areas even closer to the natural arroyo, a topographical feature that continues to entrance Randy.

Frame lounge chairs by Vondom and tables from the Circula Collection by BluDot add clean, modern lines to this relaxing open-air space, with views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and grazing mule deer, frequent visitors to the hills.

“I can’t be outside enough in Santa Fe and, so, I work a lot on the landscaping of the house,” he says. “I’m constantly bringing up stones from the arroyo — beautiful green ones, pink ones — and I’m creating areas that allow for slower drainage.” That slowing down of the waters which sometimes course through the arroyo has resulted in visits from local wildlife. “We have mule deer, bobcats, coyotes, and lots of lizards that pop out of everywhere,” Randy says. “We have a whole family of mule deer that now come up to the porch and driveway and nibble away. We’re big animal and nature lovers, so they’re welcome here.”

Homeowner/artist Laura Elia painted nine bovine skulls, which she affixed to a wall of the outdoor lounge.

As a seasoned interior designer, Laura spent considerable time laying out the floor plan long before the house was built. She drew a decidedly linear-shaped stucco dwelling that now courses elegantly along its site. Her design allowed for a private bedroom wing for themselves with another wing for guest bedrooms at the opposite end, with everything connected by an open-plan great room. She was so meticulous that she even planned the bed furniture in the primary suite, so they can watch the sunrise and sunset views through cornered windows.

One home office features bold graphic wallpaper by Rebel Walls and a king-sized Murphy bed that drops down from the closet to create an extra bedroom.

“One of the reasons we selected Gabriel as the architect and builder,” says Laura, “is that he was immediately open to our ideas and to collaboration. He really listened to us.” Randy concurs, adding, “Gabriel always had an opinion, which is a lot better than having an architect who says, ‘Whatever you want.’ He always took our ideas and made them better.”

The granite kitchen island stretches 15 feet; hanging Foscarini wire lamps are as practical as they are sculptural. Ceilings in the living room rise 15 feet; 18-inch-wide weathered ceiling beams add texture and an additional visual element to the space. Sunrise and sunset views naturally enhance the decor.

Gabriel, who estimates that he and his team have designed some 50 houses in and around Santa Fe, says, “Truthfully, this is the best project I’ve ever done — or will likely ever do. It’s my crowning achievement. Laura is such an accomplished interior designer that she came to this project with a very strong vision and ideas that were terrific from the get-go.”

The finished house assumes a profile on the land that is vaguely reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright houses and the Prairie Style dwellings that are elongated and positioned to take in expansive views. “We continue to be surprised every single time we look out one of our windows and see the views we get to live with,” says Laura. “I have to pinch myself every time.”

Photographic portraits of Native Americans have an inspiring and moving effect in the home’s media room.

While those glorious Southwest views become visual features of the interior design, the overall décor of the rooms is rooted in comfort and chic luxury. Laura stuck to a largely neutral palette for the walls and furnishings, but she also managed to work a variety of colorways through the rooms. Blazes of orange that appear in the living room reappear in the home’s office as a bold wallpaper pattern, and yellows and greens echo throughout the house: notably a moss-green hue that envelops the primary suite. “Who wouldn’t want to wake up in a room that feels like a forest?” Randy says. Meanwhile, a wall of one of the outside living areas features a grid of cow skulls that Laura painted different colors; that assemblage acts as a kind of color wheel of all of the hues that appear in the home.

One of two bunkrooms is designed for visiting families, with a king-sized bed below and twin bunk beds above.

In keeping with the couple’s desire for a serene living environment, interior lighting was carefully regulated. In the dining area and a media room whose walls are defined by a series of photographic portraits of Native Americans, Laura chose open-mesh, birdcage-like Foscarini metal fixtures shaped like Noguchi sculptures. When illuminated, the fixtures send out what Randy calls “a spiral-graph of shadows on the ceiling” that echoes an overall focus on linear shapes throughout the house. “I have a real interest in vertical lines,” says Laura, pointing to wallpapers, rugs, and fabrics with line motifs. Even in the kitchen, the cabinets feature a textured Ikonni wood treatment with vertical accent graining.

Homeowners Randy and Laura Elia, with their dog, Pepper, on an outdoor area at their Santa Fe home.

It seems like for an interior designer, fashioning rooms in her own home would be easier than designing for clients. But Laura says, “The process of designing for yourself, at least initially, is much more difficult because you know what’s out there in the marketplace. You know how many products and choices there are — too many — which can be daunting. When conceiving this house, I kept a Pinterest page that grew to something like 2,000 images of things I liked and wanted for this house. Eventually, I narrowed down the focus. The good news is, you wind up with what you love.”

A second bunk room features custom bed designs, an upholstered headboard, and sunrise views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.

Large-format porcelain walls and a lit niche define the primary bath.

Randy and Laura have discovered the real joy of having a second home is that the sense of adventure and discovery remains fresh. “Every day we are here, we’re discovering new things,” says Randy. “This town has so much history and culture and we keep finding more.”