Gretchen Overman Designs - Telling YOUR STORY

BISHOP EVERETT JONES RESIDENCE
Santa Fe, New Mexico
ARCHITECT - John Gaw Meem

I'm starting this blog with a post about one of the most stunning homes I've ever had the pleasure to help restore. In 1951 John Gaw Meem returned to his Spanish-Pueblo Revival idiom as the architect for the Episcopal Bishop Everett Jones residence. The picture windows overlook the Tesuque Valley, which is an incredible view. Work began on this house in late summer, and finished the following spring, so we got to see the valley in a full spectrum of greens, and in the winter, covered in snow.

My crew and I did some minor re-surfacing of the walls before painting to match the original color, and re-painted the faux Tierra Amarilla dado throughout the main parts of the house. A dado is a painted, decorative border at the floor level, and can be any height. Often, dados mimic the look of baseboards or wainscoting. I have always enjoyed the decorative uses people throughout the ages have given paint.

TIP: When there isn't money for lumber or tile, a contrasting color painted along floor lines or around windows adds warmth and interest.

In the case of the bishop Jones house, the color of the dado was chosen to match a traditional mud application of tierra amarilla, which literally translates as "yellow earth." Tierra Amarilla is an area in Northern New Mexico named for the color of it's clay, which is infused with tiny specs of mica. The process of washing walls with this clay involves breaking up the dry earth clods, sifting, and adding water to make a "slip." The slip is applied to the wall much the same way paint is applied. Sometimes I use a brush, but I also use my hands to avoid any brush marks in the finish. It's a very tactile and enjoyable process that leaves me feeling connected to the place. When the mud dries, and the little specs of mica show up, it has a beautiful effect.

I re-finished most of the woodwork in the home, using custom mixed colors in a Bioshield oil based clear stain medium. Modern pre-mixed stains do not always match older finishes, especially after years of patina have occurred. I use a combination of dried, earth toned pigments and liquid tints in the clear medium. Once I think I've got the color right, it needs to be tested to see if it matches when it dries. Each stain was painstakingly applied to match the multi-layered, original "brush-stroke" textures. It was a treat and an honor to bring back to life every detail and finish by one of my favorite architects. John Gaw Meem's legacy helped define the architecture and vernacular of the new Southwest.

I RECOMMEND...
Facing Southwest, The Life & Houses of John Gaw Meem

Chris Wilson, Photographs by Robert Beck. W.W. Norton & Company
www.wwnorton.com


Learn all about John Gaw Meem and his work, in this retrospective volume
which includes many fine examples of John Gaw Meem's legacy,
including Bishop Everett Jones' residence.