DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE

Home Sweet Home

By Anya Sebastian

The holidays are over and a new year has begun, and that’s the time when thoughts turn to home improvement projects that people want to see completed before summer comes around. That means an abundance of work for architects and builders, for whom the winter months are typically one of the busiest periods of the year.

“I anticipate even more assignments coming in this time,” says award-winning Santa Fe architect, Richard Martinez, whose company, Martinez Architecture Studio, PC, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. “Because of the pandemic, people have been spending much more time at home and that has made them realize there are things they would like to do to upgrade or enhance their environment.”

People with second homes in Santa Fe are also adding to the increased demand for home improvements, according to Martinez. “Many of them are based in Texas or Florida, where the corona virus has been more out of control than has been the case here,” he explains, “so they have been spending more time here than they usually do and things that weren’t so important before, suddenly become more of a priority.”

Additions and renovations are usually the first things that come to mind—adding an extra bedroom, den, or guest suite; renovating a bathroom or modernizing a kitchen. Outdoor spaces are also popular—constructing a deck, a balcony, or creating an outside area with covering, so that it can be used year-round.

“We get a lot of requests for outdoor fireplaces,” says Martinez. “People are less and less inclined to store wood inside their homes, because it can attract spiders, or even mice, so they prefer to have their fireplaces outside and use gas-fired furnaces at home.”

Stairs are also apparently falling out of favor, especially among those who are getting older and want to stay in their homes. A few outdoor steps can often be replaced by a slope, and lifts can be installed inside, if necessary, but that is obviously a major undertaking.

The pandemic has been responsible for both ups and downs in the building industry, and the downsides have been particularly significant. The cost of wood and framing materials, for example, has become increasingly volatile and delivery times are unpredictable. Customers are directly impacted, too, with appliances sometimes taking up to six months to arrive.

Building permits are also taking much longer to process. “The city just doesn’t have enough people to take care of business,” explains Martinez, “and they’re completely overwhelmed. Paperwork that used to take 6 to 8 weeks to come through, can now take up to 3 months.” In these circumstances, making an early start is obviously a good idea.

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